GLENDALE, Arizona – Emboldened by his win against Anderson Silva, Jake Paul proclaimed himself ready for one of the best boxers of this generation.
Paul called out Canelo Alvarez during his post-fight press conference after an eight-round, unanimous-decision defeat of Brazil’s Silva on Saturday night at Desert Diamond Arena. The 25-year-old Paul obviously would take the steepest step in competition imaginable by boxing the Mexican icon, who would have little to gain by even entertaining the idea of opposing Paul in a boxing match.
The polarizing Paul is nevertheless full of confidence based on how he has developed as a boxer over the past three years. After calling out another aged UFC fighter, Nate Diaz, Paul turned his attention to the 32-year-old Alvarez.
Paul pointed out Alvarez’s age and noted that boxing’s undisputed super middleweight champion didn’t look like his usual self during his third fight against rival Gennadiy Golovkin last month.
Guadalajara’s Alvarez (58-2-2, 39 KOs) defeated Kazakhstan’s Golovkin (42-2-1, 37 KOs) by unanimous decision in their 12-round, 168-pound championship match September 17 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Alvarez beat Golovkin by scores of 116-112, 115-113 and 115-113 in their third bout.
“And you, too, Canelo,” Paul said. “You’re getting old. You looked weird against Triple-G. I still want that fight as well. And I think now, like I said it 18 months ago, ‘I want Canelo!’ And then everyone, I was sitting in a room just like this said, and everyone was like, ‘[Laughing at me]. F***ing idiot, yeah.’ And then now, 18 months later, here we are. And when I say that, maybe people are taking it a little bit more seriously now. And I still mean it. And I still want that fight.”
Alvarez has won world titles in four divisions and was commonly considered the best boxer, pound-for-pound, in the sport prior to his 12-round, unanimous points loss to unbeaten WBA light heavyweight champ Dmitry Bivol (20-0, 11 KOs) on May 7 at T-Mobile Arena.
Paul (6-0, 4 KOs), a popular social media influencer, has beaten mostly former UFC fighters since he launched his professional boxing career by defeating fellow YouTuber AnEsonGib by first-round technical knockout in January 2020. The Westlake, Ohio native tried to fight active professional boxers Tommy Fury (8-0, 4 KOs) and then Hasim Rahman Jr. (12-1, 6 KOs) in his sixth pro bout, but he made a fight with the 47-year-old Silva (3-2, 2 KOs) once Fury’s visa issue and Rahman’s refusal to go through with their fight at its contracted weight prompted Paul to cancel his August 6 appearance at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.