Jake Paul’s manager, Nakisa Bidarian, says they are not interested in accepting the fight against IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois. Bidarian says Jake’s immediate goal is to return to cruiserweight to become a world champion in that weight class.
It’s not a huge shock that Jake Dubois turned down an offer to fight him for his IBF title because it wouldn’t be competitive. He is not ready for a fighter like Dubois.
“Not Now” – Why Avoid Paul Dubois
Bidarian does not say who Jake will fight for a cruiserweight champion because he would be outmatched against any of the existing champions. However, if the WBC puts one of their lesser titles on the line, such as the Diamond, Silver, or InterimPaul can potentially win if he is beaten against the right kind of opponent. KSI or Salt Papi would be ideal. The downside is that Jake won’t be taken seriously by hardcore boxing fans, but his followers won’t care.
Cruiserweight World Champions
– Gilberto Ramirez: WBA & WBO
– Jay Opetaia: IBF
– Noel Mikaelyan: WBC
Jake wants to capture a cruiserweight world title before moving up to heavyweight to challenge for a belt against someone like Dubois. Jake’s best chance to win a world title at cruiserweight would be against WBC champion Noel Mikaelyan. He is widely seen as the weakest link among the three champions in the division.
Paul, 27, defeated 58-year-old retired former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson last Friday in a fight that many fans felt was scripted for a theatrical production. Fans point out that Tyson pulled his punches so as not to hurt the youngster fighting Paul (11-1, 7 KOs), who has yet to fight a world-class boxer in his four-year career.
IBF champion Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs) wanted to step up to offer Jake a free title shot without actually having to earn the fight, because it was pretty clear that the way his career was moving, he had no intention to follow the normal rules of boxing.
Jake would probably never agree to fight a top-15 heavyweight contender or compete in a world title eliminator against someone like Martin Bakole, Agit Kabayel or Zhilei Zhang. With Jake’s popularity, he doesn’t need to work towards a title shot. It will be given to him.
“Jake’s feedback to me was: ‘I don’t want to do that fight (with Dubois) right now, but I want to do that fight,'” said Nakisa Bidarian. Sky Sports about Jake Paul not interested in taking on IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois right now.
“To be a world champion in cruiserweight, he wants to do it. The other (fighting Dubois) is to test the limits of expectations. Test the limits of what’s possible,” Bidarian said. “It’s not about the money. He made a lot of money since he was 18 years old. It’s really about doing things that make you say, ‘Wow, that really happened.’ That’s what excites us.”
Jake defeated the hapless Mike Tyson by an eight-round unanimous decision in front of a huge crowd of 73,000+ fans at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The scores were 79-73, 80-72 and 79-73.
The sad part is that the Texas commission in the Paul vs. approved Tyson fight as an official professional fight that counted in the record books, even though the bout was two minutes long and both fighters wore 14-oz gloves.
