Jake Paul has gone farther in combat sports than anyone anticipated, but in terms of name value, it’s likely impossible to top the iconic Mike Tyson, who the former Disney star recently defeated by unanimous decision for his 11th victory in an event that captured the attention of the sporting world.
Paul, 27, has called out many unique names throughout his face-punching journey. Some have been more realistic than others, while others have been pure fantasy — UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira is a perfect example of the latter. However, pound-for-pound boxing great Saul “Canelo” Alvarez has been on Paul’s lips after several wins, and that’s remained consistent both before and after Tyson.
So what comes after the big Netflix debut? Alvarez is “absolutely possible,” according to Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) co-founder Nakisa Bidarian. It just will take the right sell.
“We just put on the biggest event since the advent of cable for combat sports, right?” Bidarian said on Uncrowned’s “The Ariel Helwani Show.” “So no matter what fighter you are, you have to look at that and say, ‘That’s a pretty special moment. That’s a pretty special platform.’ Jake Paul doesn’t need ‘Canelo’ from a financial perspective nor from a belt perspective, because they’re not going to fight for the belts that ‘Canelo’ holds if they were to fight.
“‘Canelo’ certainly doesn’t need Jake Paul to make money either. For me, if that fight was to happen, 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 really back,’ and really bring other fighters into the fold there to help bring exposure to the sport like we just did with [Paul vs. Tyson].
“The hurdle isn’t going to be money,” Bidarian continued. “There’s so much money in that fight. The hurdle is both sides understanding why they’re really doing it, if they end up doing it.”
A legend of Mexican boxing, the 34-year-old “Canelo” has deflected any mentions of a Paul matchup in the past. But things may be different after the breakthrough commercial success of Paul vs. Tyson, which peaked at a staggering number of 65 million concurrent streams on Netflix for the main event.
Bidarian expects Paul to return to the ring in the March-May window of 2025. Despite having a deal with the PFL for an eventual MMA debut, Paul is purely focused on boxing, he said. Bidarian has no personal preference for who “El Gallo de Dorado” battles next — including Paul’s older brother, Logan Paul.
“I think maybe that’s something that Logan would like to happen,” Bidarian said. “Jake for the first time is probably ahead of his brother in terms of reach, in terms of awareness, in terms of popularity, in terms of engagement. And I think from a Logan perspective, who is ultra-competitive, there is that tension. There is that, ‘My baby brother’s taking over and I need to teach him a lesson.’ So I wouldn’t be surprised if that came into fruition at all.
“I think Jake will have to get to a place where he feels like he has to do it to set things right, and I’m not sure, I haven’t had a discussion with him [about that fight].”
What is certain is that Paul vs. Tyson was a massive win for the athletes, promoters and Netflix — despite the unrelenting streaming issues. To land the historic event, Bidarian recalled going to the global streaming platform with a list of different names that Paul could potentially fight. One of those was Tyson, and everything snowballed from there to give the world a true can’t-look-away spectacle.
“If you don’t see how this was the greatest moment in boxing history for the past 20-30 years, then you’re not a brand-builder and you’re not someone who’s focused on the growth of the sport long-term,” Bidarian said. “You’re stuck in this little small niche corner of sports called boxing that exists.
“More people got to witness this sport than they have since the days of Muhammad Ali. There was a card that offered something for every single type of consumer, and one of our biggest objectives going in was to give women the platform that they deserved, and did Amanda Serrano and Katie Taylor deliver or did they deliver? There are little girls I see putting on boxing gloves and saying, ‘I’m going to be Katie Taylor. I’m going to be Amanda Serrano.’ I think we did a huge service to the sport of boxing.
“Netflix did a massive service to the sport of boxing by giving it the exposure, giving it the engagement, giving it the conversation. So six different generations were talking about this, but Generation Alpha was engaged in our sport. Even if one percent of those kids hang out and become boxing fans and some of them actually pick up boxing gloves, that’s a massive win.”
If there’s been one fascinating element to Paul’s career, it’s that many of his matches haven’t been particularly compelling in the ring. The same effect happened with Tyson.
Bidarian doesn’t believe it’s about that though.
Overall, Paul vs. Tyson was more than just a boxing match, he argues, so that critique isn’t bothersome.
“Jake is the face of boxing, no matter what anyone wants to tell you,” Bidarian said. “And he may not be the face of boxing from being the most advanced boxer at this point in time, but the heavyweight champ of the world (Daniel Dubois) is calling him out. Artur Beterbiev, who’s one of the pound-for-pound greats, is calling him out. Gervonta Davis is calling him out. Ryan Garcia is calling him out.
“If you’re going to say, ‘Well, the [Tyson] fight wasn’t the greatest fight.’ You know what? There’s lots of fights that aren’t the greatest fights. There’s lots of games that are blowouts. There’s lots of baseball games that are lopsided. There’s tennis matches where somebody wins three sets to none, six-love, six-love. It wasn’t about that one specific fight. It’s about what the event was for the sport.”
