Dana White believes he knows exactly how Jake Paul would do against boxing’s very best.
The YouTuber-turned-fighter has built an 11-1 professional boxing record by beating fellow internet celebrities, aging MMA stars, and ring legend Mike Tyson.
However, he claims to want to become a world champion and fight Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, who is widely regarded as one of the sport’s pound-for-pound best.
Jake Paul and Dana White share a long, bitter history. Still, the UFC boss insisted that he bares the 27-year-old no ill will as he offered a brutal assessment of his chances against Canelo.
Gone in 30 seconds
In June, the UFC CEO talked up Canelo Alvarez and his prolonged boxing dominance.
Naturally, that flowed into a conversation about Jake Paul, who has been calling out the Mexican superstar, despite the fact he doesn’t seem particularly interested in the matchup.
“People talk s*** and say whatever it is that they want to say, but look Canelo,” White told Shannon Sharpe.
“Canelo is still the man. He jumps in there and he does it, he goes to work and it’s hard to stay at that level for a very long time. What’s this guy clipping? $40million a fight?
He added about Canelo vs Paul: “It would be a f***ing 30-second payday for Canelo. I don’t know why Canelo wouldn’t do it… Canelo can fight real guys, keep his credibility intact, and still make that kind of money.
“Jake needs Tyson and all these other people because everybody is going to tune in to hope Mike Tyson is going to knock him out. They are not tuning in because they think Jake Paul is a great fighter and they want to see him compete.”
Jake Paul’s team address ‘fictitious claims’ about Mike Tyson fight
Jake Paul’s entire combat sports career has been dogged by unfounded claims about ‘rigged’ fights and imaginary contract clauses that detract from his achievements.
Despite attracting 60 million viewers to Netflix for his fight with Mike Tyson, vicious rumors have continued to do the rounds on social media.
On Monday, Paul’s company, Most Valuable Promotions, issued an official statement addressing the ‘fictitious claims that undermine the integrity of the Paul vs Tyson fight’.
It read: “Following the wide circulation of incorrect and baseless claims that undermine the integrity of the Paul vs. Tyson event, Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) would like to set the record straight regarding the contractual agreements and the nature of the fight.
“Rigging a professional boxing match is a federal crime in the United States of America. Paul vs. Tyson was a professional match sanctioned by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulations (TDLR). Both fighters in good faith performed to the best of their abilities with the goal of winning the fight. There were absolutely no restrictions – contractual or otherwise – around either fighter. Each boxer was able to use his full arsenal to win the fight. Any agreement to the contrary would violate TDLR boxing rules.
“Trash talk and speculation are common in sports, and athletes and promoters need to tolerate nonsensical commentary, jokes and opinions. But suggesting anything other than full effort from these fighters is not only naïve but an insult to the work they put into their craft and to the sport itself.
“It is further illogical and inane that MVP, in the debut of a hopeful long-term partnership with the world’s biggest streamer—an organization that made its first-ever foray into live professional sports with Paul vs. Tyson—would even so much as consider such a perverse violation of the rules of competition.”