The week started with Tony Bellew, Carl Froch, Ryan Garcia, Artur Beterbiev and Daniel Dubois all making their case for a fight against Jake Paul and now it is seemingly the turn of Andre Ward, the 40-year-old former super middleweight and light heavyweight champion.
“I am open for a discussion,” Ward told Stephen A. Smith in a video interview. “Since you (Paul) like fighting older guys, I’m an older guy. I haven’t touched a ring in seven years, so I think it would be interesting.”
When Ward says “interesting” what he really means is lucrative, of course. It wouldn’t be Tyson-Paul lucrative, a fight between Ward and Paul, but it would nevertheless deliver Ward the kind of one-night payday he has not seen since retiring from the sport back in 2017 at the relatively young age of 33.
It is for that reason alone that Ward is open to playing along and fighting Paul in 2025. He knows more than anyone both what Paul brings to the table financially and how easy the fight would be as a night’s work. Even with the inevitable rust of seven years out, there will have been fewer simpler fights for Ward and fewer more rewarding ones, either. That’s all because Paul, in the eyes of most boxers, is the surest thing in the sport right now; the quickest and easiest way to make a lot of money.
Even heavyweights like Daniel Dubois have contacted Paul of late, encouraged no doubt by the fact that Paul’s abysmal eight-rounder with Mike Tyson on Friday was made at heavyweight. Dubois, hardly known for callouts, clearly saw pound signs at the weekend and got in touch with Paul on Monday. It was then Paul, amused by the Brit’s desperation, revealed this message to his followers on social media. It read: “Hi Jake. Good business on the weekend, but how would you feel fighting for the legitimate heavyweight championship of the world? This is Daniel Dubois calling you out. Let’s get it on.”
Paul, in response, wrote: “Man (has) been boxing for 12 years, has over 100 fights between amateur and pro and fought on my undercard… hahaha. But fuck it… I’m going to have Nakisa (Bidarian, manager) talk to Frank Warren (Dubois’ promoter) and get you in line for the throne. Unlike Artur (Beterbiev), at least you have a few thousand fans.”
To hear Paul refer to lines leading to a throne and imply that he alone sits on this throne will no doubt rile boxing purists and with good reason. Yet it would be ignorant all the same not to appreciate what is going on here and understand that in terms of power and influence Jake Paul is very much sitting on a throne and understand why, from this throne, he looks down at men grovelling for his attention with a certain pity and disregard. He, after all, was meant to be the troublemaker, the outcast, the man-child nobody respected and nobody wanted in the sport. Now, though, not only do they talk about him, and watch him, but they apparently can’t wait to do business with him in the future.
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