Beterbiev Offers Jake Paul Title Shot: Is This a Joke?

Undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev is offering YouTuber boxer Jake Paul a free title shot that could put his four belts at 175 following Jake's victory over 58-year-old former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson last Friday night at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) said he wants to see what Paul (11-0, 7 KOs) “can do inside the ring.” What's unclear is whether Beterbiev is just joking to capitalize on the attention 27-year-old Jake received for beating an old and washed Tyson (50-7, 44 KOs) with an eight-round wide unanimous decision.

Tyson was over the hill when he retired 19 years ago in 2005, but he was a shell last night for the then 38-year-old losing to Kevin McBride in the final fight of his career before last night's circus-level bout against the influencer Jake. The version of Tyson losing to McBride would have wiped things out with Jake. It would have been over in the first round, but now he's not much of a fighter.

Beterbiev, 39, is expected to fight a rematch against former WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol after beating him with a dubious 12-round majority decision last month on October 12 in Riyadh. The Saudis want the rematch, but they may be interested in financing a match between the unproven Jake Paul challenging Beterbiev for his titles.

Jake Paul vs. Artur Beterbiev would sell

It's a fight that would likely sell on PPV due to Jake's massive 26 million followers on Instagram and over 20 million YouTube subscribers. That's a huge number of people to whom the wizard marketer Jake can promote the Beterbiev fight. It doesn't matter that these aren't boxing fans and wouldn't know it's a farce. They will still be interested in seeing the fight and would be happy to pay, believing Jake has a chance.

On the real boxing side of it. If Beterbiev is serious, it would be an insult to the sport if he were to make a joke of it by choosing to fight an influencer who is more of a hustler than an actual boxer. Furthermore, it would be 100% unfair to the contenders waiting for their legitimate title shot against Beterbiev, such as Bivol and Joshua Buatsi.

Jake has come up with a money-making formula where he picks really old fighters who are completely shot and have nothing left, and he profits from their fame.

Boxing News 24 » Beterbiev Offers Jake Paul Title Shot: Is This A Joke?

Last updated on 11/16/2024