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Jake Paul is two weeks away from getting into the ring again, and there is once again not exactly a perfect opponent in the other corner of the ring.
On Nov. 14, Paul will face Gervonta “Tank” Davis, who normally fights seven weight classes below the cruiserweight Paul, in Miami.
This fight is not sanctioned, but as Paul pointed out in a recent interview with Fox News Digital, “It’s the same deal. Everyone remembers that there’s a winner.”
Paul has been criticized for fighting Mike Tyson (31 years his senior), Anderson Silva (a former UFC star nearly 22 years older than him), and boxers like Andre August and Ryan Bourland – not exactly household names. The same criticism is coming again for Davis due to the weight-class difference, but Paul, who has constantly spoken about his goals of becoming a world champion (he is eligible for a WBA title fight), argued that this fight is yet another one that proves his legitimacy as a boxer.
“I think people have said, ‘Fight someone your age, fight one of the best in the world.’ This is answering both of those things in one,” he said. “And being the underdog with half the internet thinking I’m going to get killed and blah, blah, blah, and proving to people that I can box better than someone who’s been doing it their whole life. I think people will be shocked after fight night as to my skills and how I strategically came in with a game plan and I executed it.”
That game plan, Paul said, is totally different compared to his previous one.
“A lot of it’s focusing on speed, but also just high-level thinking in the sport, ring IQ, not making any mistakes. Not getting countered, not getting lazy at any moment, alertness, all of these things. The list goes on,” he said. “But I have to be the sharpest I’ve ever been for 39 minutes straight, and that’s not easy to do against someone who’s one of the pound-for-pound best.”
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The fight is not sanctioned, which will obviously warrant claims that the fight, similarly to just about all his others, is staged, fixed, or rigged to some extent. Those claims got to a point where Paul and his business partner, Nakisa Bidarian, threatened to take legal action, most notably against Piers Morgan.
Morgan “clarified” his comments shortly after Paul and Bidarian said Morgan should expect a lawsuit, and Paul has since noticed silence.
“People haven’t been talking. And rightfully so, right?” he said. “Like, stop lying on my name. People can say a lot of things, but when they’re blatant lies that actually defame my brand, people saying fights are rigged, steroids, whatever it is, that’s where it goes too far, Paul said. “So, you know, hate on the fights, don’t watch the fights, whatever, but as soon as people start lying, they’re going to get sued.”
After the fight, Paul will turn his attention to his fiancée, Jutta Leerdam, who will be vying for her first Olympic gold medal in speedskating. Leerdam, 26, earned a silver medal in the women’s 1,000 meters in the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
The couple got engaged earlier this year, but intense training regimens have certainly put a wrinkle in wedding planning. Paul’s training has even gotten in the way of his own support for his future wife.
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“It’s intense to be an athlete couple and training all the time. We’re not always there for each other, but we’re FaceTiming all day, pretty much supporting each other,” Paul said. “It’s a lot of pressure on both of us, and we just do our best to support each other.
“And after this fight, I’m going to try and be there for her as much as possible supporting her in her journey to the Olympics. And I know she’s going to do amazing things.”
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