Jake Paul’s manager Nakisa Bidarian insists his client could square off with Canelo Alvarez in 2025.
Paul called out Canelo after defeating a 58-year-old Mike Tyson last weekend and has been chasing the fight to no avail for the past two years.
Paul is weighing up his options for his next fight after beating Tyson[/caption]
“Canelo needs me, so I’m not even going to try and call him out,” he said post-fight.
“He knows he wants a payday. So, he knows where the money man is at…
“He’s going to want a payday and I want to show the world all the [stuff] I’ve been talking about beating Canelo is true and I’ll have the biggest upset in the history of boxing.
“We’ll fight to really see who is the face [of boxing] because, after this event, I’m going to be claiming it.”
Paul has been called out by several reigning world champions after his recent victory, including IBF heavyweight title holder Daniel Dubois and undisputed light heavyweight king Artur Beterbiev.
But Canelo remains silent on the matter. The unified super middleweight champion, widely considered one of the best in the world – has previously declared he has no interest in fighting the YouTuber-turned-boxer.
However, Bidarian believes it could ‘absolutely’ happen next year, although he admitted he was ‘not sure’ if it would be Paul’s next fight.
“We just put on the biggest event since the advent of cable for combat sports,” Bidarian told the Ariel Helwani show.
“And so no matter what fighter you are, you have to look at that and say ‘That is a pretty special moment, that is a pretty special platform’.
“Jake Paul doesn’t need Canelo from a fan perspective nor from a belt perspective because they are not going to fight for the belts Canelo holds.
“Canelo certainly doesn’t need Jake Paul to make money either.
“For me, it has to be more than that. It has to be a desire to once again have the world stop and pay attention to this beautiful sport of boxing.
“Have the world look at it and say ‘Wow! Boxing is back’… the hurdle is not money.”
Paul and Tyson may have left a lot be desired in the ring but there is no doubting the commercial success of the event.
The card – co-headlined by Katie Taylor vs Amanda Serrano – was the biggest gate for any combat sports event in the United States outside of Las Vegas,
Over 72,300 punters attended the Most Valuable Promotions and Netflix show, generating to $18.1million (£14.3m) in ticket sales while 108m global viewers tuned into the live stream.
