Canelo Alvarez and YouTuber turned-boxer Jake Paul reportedly have an agreement to fight in May. This would be Canelo’s tune-up to prepare him to defend his unified super middleweight titles against Terence Crawford on September 13th at the T-Mobile Arenas in Las Vegas.
JuliusJulianis reports that Canelo and Paul have agreed to fight in May. It’s unclear what weight class the contest will be in and how many rounds. Canelo (62-2-2, 39 KOs) isn’t into exhibitions, so he would unlikely agree to go that route.
Canelo vs. Paul will likely bring in more PPV buys than the Mexican star’s September clash against Terence Crawford. Jake has a massive following on Instagram, with 23.6 million followers and 20.6 million subscribers to his YouTube channel.
Crawford is nowhere near as popular. His last PPV effort against Israil Madrimov on August 3rd was an utter failure, with a reported 75,000 to 100,000 buys. If not for Turki Al-Sheikh being willing to pay Alvarez a ton of money, it would be a waste of time for him to fight Crawford.
Doubts and Skepticism
Fans on social media are in disbelief, feeling that Canelo wouldn’t stoop to this level of fighting YouTuber Jake Paul. However, the Mexican star said in an interview with TMZ Sports that he would face him if the money was right. A fight against Jake would likely pay Canelo considerably more than a match against IBF super middleweight champion William Scull in May.
“There is already an agreement for Jake Paul to be Canelo Álvarez’s rival in May of this year, a source very close to the operation informs me. The event will be co-promoted by CaneloPromotions&MVP&PBC #CaneloPaul,” said JuliusJulianis on X about Canelo Alvarez vs. Jake Paul possible for May.
Jake Paul is coming off a much-criticized eight-round unanimous decision win over 59-year-old Mike Tyson on November 15th in Arlington, Texas.
Canelo fighting Jake would further the belief that he’s on his retirement tour, cashing out with easy fights and milking his fanbase with easy fights on PPV. He hasn’t taken a tough fight since his clash against Dmitry Bivol, which he lost on May 7, 2022. Since that defeat, Canelo has padded his resume with these matches:
– Edgar Berlanga
– Jaime Munguia
– Jermell Charlo
– John Ryder
– Gennadiy Golovkin: 40
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