Canelo vs. Jake Paul: “1000% gonna happen”

Jake Paul’s manager, Nakisa Bidarian, says a fight between him and Canelo Alvarez is “going to happen” either this year or in 2025.

Bidarian is confident that one of the US state commissions will sanction the Canelo vs. Paul fight as a professional bout, pointing out that the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Conor McGregor bout was sanctioned when they fought in 2017.

Grabbing money

According to Bidarian, the Canelo-Jake Paul fight will have three-minute rounds. It would be a profitable battle. Importantly, the fight takes place shortly before the 34-year-old Canelo (62-2-2, 39 KOs) loses to someone or his popularity declines.

It would be a disruptive type of match if it happened because boxing fans would be angry because of Jake Paul’s lack of credentials at the professional level. Losing to Tommy Fury, a local British fighter, and beating retired 58-year-old Mike Tyson isn’t enough for Jake to rate a fight against Canelo.

A fight between them would have a foregone conclusion and be considered a money grab circus fight It’s one thing for 27-year-old Jake to fight an older guy like Mike Tyson, but fans will see it as a rip-off if he fought Canelo Alvarez.

No one will take the fight seriously without Jake beating a top-level fighter at cruiserweight or someone who has moved up in weight from light heavyweight. With a net worth estimated at $250 million, Canelo is not hurting for money to be lured into a fight with Jake Paul, which won’t go as well as some think unless the YouTuber beats a high-level fighter first.

Jake has to prove himself

For Jake to be considered a credible opponent for Canelo, he needs at least one win over an active world class level fighter. Tommy Fury is NOT world class, and Jake lost to him.

Options for Jake to gain credibility

– Gilberto Ramirez
– Jai Opetaia
– Arthur Beterbiev
– Dmitry Bivol
– David Benavidez
– Noel Mikaelyan

Canelo’s fame is already on a downward spiral because he hasn’t been in a big 50-50 fight since his fight against Dmitry BIvol in 2022. Canelo has certainly found opposition since then, winning his last five contests. Chosen NOT to fight David Benavidez or David Morrell, he is busy picking his opponents at this late stage of his career.

His last opponent, Edgar Berlanga, was embarrassingly bad, a fighter with no experience against quality opposition, who sold the fight as a Puerto Rico vs. Mexico match even though he’s not from Puerto Rico. It was a sad marketing gimmickand the fight had no entertainment value, with the 190+ Berlanga in survival mode for 12 one-sided rounds. Canelo picked on this guy and did nothing for his popularity. It showed the Mexican star picking from the bottom of the barrel for his opponents.

“1000% Happening”

“In terms of Canelo Alvarez, that fight is 1000% going to happen. Whether it happens this year or next year, it’s definitely one that’s on the road map for Jake Paul,” manager Nakisa Bidarian told talkSport Boxing. YouTube channel about a fight between Canelo Alvarez and Jake Paul that is destined to happen.

“Absolutely not two minute laps. Tell me what is the most important sanctioning body in America. What would you say it is?” Bidarian said when told that none of the four sanctioning bodies in boxing would sanction a fight between Canelo and Jake Paul.”

Canelo hasn’t said if he’ll take the fight with Jake Paul, and it’s unlikely he will because of the backlash he’ll face. Unless Jake is willing to face and beat one of the notable fighters in cruiserweight or light heavyweight, Canelo wouldn’t dare fight him because of the criticism he would receive.

Canelo’s asking price for fight

Jake is not about to fight a top cruiserweight like Jai Opetaia because he is not that type of fighter. He’s still a beginner, bringing in audiences because of his social media reach.

“If they do Mayweather vs. McGregor, why wouldn’t they do Canelo vs. Jake Paul,” Bidarian said, pointing out that one of the state commissions in the U.S. would approve a fight between Canelo and Jake Paul, as the Nevada Commission has Floyd Mayweather Jr’s fight against MMA fighter Conor McGregor has been sanctioned as a professional bout, which counts in the record books for their clash on August 26, 2017.

Bidarian is right. One of the state commissions will approve a fight between Canelo and Jake Paul, possibly Nevada or Texas, but this does not mean that the Mexican star will agree to the fight. Canelo has some standards, and he would realize how the fans would react to this match if he agrees. However, if Canelo is offered a guaranteed $100 million+is he perhaps willing to put aside his pride to agree to this circus contest.

The Mexican star would need to be offered a massive guaranteed purse for him to even consider doing so, and that would be risky for whatever organization

McGregor has NEVER fought a boxing match before and entered the Mayweather fight with a 0-0 record and no experience. The result was predictable, with Mayweather dominating rookie McGregor before knocking him out in the 10th round.

A freak show against heavyweight

“He might watch what someone called a ‘freak show’ at some point. He may be looking at doing exciting, disruptive things like fighting an Anthony Joshua or a Daniel Dubois, but that’s not in his current roadmap. He (Jake) will campaign at cruiserweight, and Canelo, to my knowledge, is walking around at 190,” Bidarian said.

If Jake were to move up to heavyweight and prove himself by beating someone like Filip Hrgovic, Agit Kabayel or Martin Bakole, a fight between him and Joshua or Dubois would be taken seriously. Since Jake won’t entertain that idea, it’s going to make a joke of AJ or Dubois fighting him.

Anthony Joshua and Dubois will almost certainly agree to a fight with Jake for the money. If Joshua was willing to fight Francis Ngannou 0-1, he would gladly agree to a match against Jake. Dubois had already reached out to Jake for a fight. It is unclear whether the IBF will sanction the fight for his heavyweight title.

It doesn’t matter what any state commission would say. It would be about the IBF agreeing to a match where the unranked Jake challenges Paul Dubois for their title. I don’t see that happening. The fight could happen, but probably not for Dubois’ title.