Jake Paul and Nate Diaz are set to do big business by the time they enter the ring.
Their upcoming ten-round bout will headline a DAZN/ESPN+/PPV.com Pay-Per-View event this Saturday from American Airlines Center (AAC) in Dallas, Texas. The show is guaranteed to produce the largest live gate for any boxing event at the venue and its second-best for any combat sports event.
“It is remarkable to witness Jake Paul continue to break records,” stated Nakisa Bidarian, co-founder of Most Valuable Promotions along with Paul. “Jake had the highest combat sports gate at Amalie Arena in Tampa Florida, the second highest combat sports gate at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona and now the second highest gate ever at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, an arena that has hosted six UFC PPV events.
“With global icon Nate Diaz as his opponent, this event will be his biggest yet and we are already seeing it across the board from media attendance, social media engagement, sold out tickets and commercial pay-per-view buys. The sheer volume of these numbers speaks to Jake’s star power in what is just his eighth fight. Saturday night promises to be nothing short of spectacular.”
Added event partner and sports/entertainment consulting firm president Flavil Hampsten: “Elevate is proud to work alongside Most Valuable Productions and Jake Paul to curate distinctive experiences for combat sport aficionados, and entertainment seekers. We look forward to Saturday’s record-breaking event.”
The Paul-Diaz ‘Ready 4 War’ event is exceeded only by UFC 277 last July 20, topped by the Julianna Pena-Amanda Nunes rematch. That event had an announced crowd of 19.442 and produced a live gate of $4,555,691 in ticket sales.
AAC officials have informed BoxingScene.com that few tickets are left for Saturday’s show.
“The world will be watching as notorious fighters Jake Paul and Nate Diaz face off in Dallas,” Dave Brown, AAC chief operating office and general manager, said of the event. “The demand for this fight shows why American Airlines Center continues to be a top destination for premier sports competitions.”
The card also features record-setting seven-division and reigning undisputed featherweight champion Amanda Serrano (44-2-1, 30KOs), who faces former WBO featherweight titlist Heather Hardy in the chief support. The all-Brooklyn battle is a rematch to their September 2019 battle, which saw Serrano drop a then-unbeaten Hardy in the opening round en route to a ten-round, unanimous decision to win the WBO title and begin her undisputed run.
Serrano who signed with MVP in 2021—fully unified the division in a ten-round win over WBA champ Erika Cruz this past February 4 at Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater in New York City. The event also features recent MVP signee and top super middleweight contender Shadasia Green (12-0, 11KOs), who faces Olivia Curry (7-0, 2KOs) in a scheduled ten-round bout.
Paul (6-1, 4KOs) enters the fight off his first career defeat, an eight-round, split decision to England’s Tommy Fury on February 26 in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia. The fight was his first versus an exclusive boxer, having previously defeated former UFC champions Anderson Silva and Tyron Woodley (twice), along with MMA fighter Ben Askren, NBA star Nate Robinson and fellow social media influencer AnEson Gib.
Silva held a 3-1 boxing record and a win over former WBC middleweight titlist Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. before he was dropped late en route to an eight-round, unanimous decision to Paul last October 28 at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona. Woodley made his pro boxing debut in his August 2021 meeting with Paul, who won an eight-round split decision. Paul scored a highlight reel, sixth-round knockout in their December 2021 rematch in front of a sold-out AMALIE Arena in Tampa.
Diaz will make his boxing pro debut in what should provide closure to a long brewing rivalry. The 38-year-old former UFC star from Stockton, California has turned up at several Paul events—often in support of stablemate Chris Avila, who fights on Saturday’s undercard, his third on an MVP event. The two camps nearly came to blows during fight week preceding Paul’s repeat win over Woodley in Tampa.
The scheduled ten-round main event will take place at a maximum catchweight of 185-pounds and with ten-ounce gloves, the standard for any boxing match above welterweight. Both the weight and the glove size are foreign to Diaz, who fought in the 155-pound lightweight and 170-pound welterweight division during his MMA career.
Diaz still carries enough clout to where his decision to box and in an attention-grabbing fight versus Paul was enough to sway the buying public.
“We have headlined incredible shows including Madison Square Garden in front of the first sitting President to attend a UFC fight,” stated Zach Rosenfield, president of Diaz’s Real Fight Inc. company which co-promotes Saturday’s show. “Nate makes his boxing debut, it is only appropriate that he does so in front of a sold out crowd in Dallas in front of an incredible fan base.
“Their support only furthers the excitement for this fight that continues to dominate engagement across social media, commercial PPV’s and more.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox