Jake Paul’s entrance into professional boxing marked a dramatic change in combat sports. An influencer, with his millions of social media followers, could sell tickets and generate a buzz around sideshow matchups.
He began his boxing career by facing fellow YouTubers before calling out and defeating several retired former UFC fighters, including two former champions. In his most high-profile boxing match, Paul faced a 58-year old Mike Tyson who hadn’t fought in a sanctioned bout in nearly two decades. In his last boxing match, Paul defeated a well past his prime former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
Paul’s past opponents have been undersized, inactive, twice his age, or not professional boxers. But his next bout may be the most outlandish.
Paul is set to take on Gervonta “Tank” Davis on Nov. 14 in Miami, Florida. For his last fight, Davis fought at 136 pounds. For his last match, Paul tipped the scales at 199.4.
Due to the differential is stature and mass, former two-division UFC champion Daniel Cormier is opposed to the fight taking place and questioned why it’s happening.
“At times boxing gets ridiculous. Gervonta Davis is fighting Jake Paul,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “One of the most recognizable things is Jake Paul is huge compared to Gervonta Davis.”
Cormier questioned how the fight could be sanctioned by any reputable athletic commission. “How can you take those sanctioning organizations seriously when they are sanctioning this,” he asked.
“I don’t understand why. I’ve talked about this before, like I didn’t know why they were fighting because Gervonta Davis’ last fight was at 136 pounds.”
Paul has been able to march to the beat of his own drum. To fight him is lucrative, and it’s given him the ability to stack the deck in his favor. Cormier strongly opposes the fight taking place.
“Jake Paul has been able to carve out and make his own lane in boxing. And I’ve never seen anything like it. He literally, I mean, we all know what weight class he fights in any situation. We just know. He kind of makes his own rules, and it seems like people are playing by those rules,” said Cormier.
“Come on guys. Let’s not make this happen. This is absolutely ridiculous.”