Jake Paul wants whoever leaves the ring with his hand raised after Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua. The Sun and The Irish Sun both reported Tuesday that Paul has his sights on the winner of the British heavyweight blockbuster, and that he brushed off worries about damage by claiming his broken jaw didn’t hurt.
That’s a big swing from a guy who has spent his whole boxing run picking which names to chase. Fury and Joshua are two of the most famous heavyweights of their generation, and Paul is lining up for the leftovers before either of them has thrown a punch.
Nobody from the Fury or Joshua camps has publicly bitten, at least not in anything we’ve seen. No date, no venue, no purse. It’s a callout and nothing more right now.
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The jaw
The headline grabber is Paul saying the jaw break didn’t faze him. Fighters say stuff like that all the time, and sometimes they even mean it. The Sun’s framing was that he made the claim sensationally, which is about right. Telling the world a broken jaw was no big deal is a strange pitch to make while asking to share a ring with men who hit as hard as Fury and Joshua.
A busy week for Paul
This is the second heavyweight matchmaking idea out of Paul’s mouth in a matter of days. A clip of Paul asking for Jon Jones to be released from the UFC so he can fight Francis Ngannou was one of the most-discussed media posts in r/MMA’s weekly recap for October 18 to 24. That one, at least, didn’t involve Paul getting punched.
He’s also got a line forming. Bloody Elbow ran a headline over the weekend reporting that Darren Till is “waiting for the contract” to fight Paul. Till has gone 2-0 since committing to BKFC, beating Aaron Chalmers and Yoel Romero, and he’s also being floated for a bare-knuckle rematch with Derek Brunson.
Paul’s business side keeps growing too. Cageside Press reported that the PFL is set to merge into Paul’s MVP come the new year, with PFL Dubai on November 14 at the Coca-Cola Arena as one of the last PFL-branded shows. That card is headlined by a heavyweight title fight between champ Vadim Nemkov (20-2) and No. 3-ranked Sergei Bilostenniy (15-4).
Meanwhile the Fury vs. Joshua event is stacking up without him. Bloody Elbow reported that Manny Pacquiao is set to face a former world champion on that card.
Quick take
Calling out the winner of a fight that hasn’t happened is the cheapest callout in boxing. It costs nothing, it puts your name next to two bigger ones, and nobody has to answer it until the dust settles. I love heavyweights and I love chaos, so part of me wants this. But Fury and Joshua have to get through each other first, and the winner of that fight will have options that pay more and risk less than a guy who just told everyone his jaw broke and he didn’t feel it. If Paul really wants a fight that’s ready to sign, Darren Till says he’s waiting on a contract.
