YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul is laying down a new challenge. After defeating Ryan Bourland in a single round with a technical knockout in Puerto Rico, he’s set his sights on super-middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez.
Paul didn’t give Bourland, a former Golden Gloves champion, much room to breathe, piling on the punches in the first round to win by stoppage. Bourland was left unable to fight back or defend himself, which caused the referee to stop the fight with just twenty-three seconds left on the clock.
It was another dominant performance from Paul to take his professional record to 9-1 after two quickfire wins against established boxers. In his interview after the fight, Paul called out superstar Canelo for a possible future bout.
Ignoring other internet celebrities trying to break into boxing, Paul is just focusing on his own journey towards becoming a world champion, and he sees a match against Alvarez as one possible step on that path.
“I mean, he was supposed to give it to me, right? This guy has 19 fights, he’s super experienced. I guess we’ve got to step it up way more,” said Paul on DAZN. “But I’m ready. I’m getting sharp. This is my life now, and, like I said, I’m on the road to becoming a world champion.
“Canelo, stop ducking. I know you want it. I’m repping Puerto Rico, you’re repping Mexico, so it’s Puerto Rico vs Mexico,” said the cruiserweight boxer. “I want Canelo. I want all the biggest names. Like I said, I’m the face of this sport. Truly, who’s doing more for boxing than me? I keep on proving myself time and time again.”
Paul confidently stated that with his fanbase of over 30 million and his viral knockouts, he’s undoubtedly the biggest name in the world of boxing. He also noted that despite questions over who his future opponents might be, he’ll continue giving fans an exciting show.
“The most followed boxer, the most viral KOs. That’s just facts, no-one can deny that,” he said. “I’m here to stay, I’m a staple in this game and, man, I really want all the smoke. Whoever’s out there, let’s get it popping.”
Regarding his next fight, Paul remained tight-lipped. He said: “We’ll see. It’s back to the drawing board. I don’t want to give anybody the attention because a lot of these guys don’t want to sign the contract, especially when I keep doing s*** like this to all my opponents.
“I”m on the path to world champion and I want to keep on fighting tougher fights. If a money fight pops up, I’ll take it because those are fun. But for now I’m staying on the path of fighting real fighters and increasing the level of opposition.”
Alvarez has proven himself as one of the top boxers by winning titles in four different weight classes: super middleweight, junior middleweight, middleweight, and light heavyweight. He has had impressive wins against some of boxing’s toughest competitors, including Gennadiy Golovkin [with a record of 2-0-1 in their trilogy], Miguel Cotto, Amir Khan, Sergey Kovalev, and Billy Joe Saunders, to name a few.
In the past, Alvarez has voiced his lack of respect for Jake Paul as a boxer, criticising Paul’s style as appealing to people who don’t know much about boxing and rarely watch it. While he recognises that Paul brings fans from various backgrounds to boxing, Alvarez believes these fans don’t truly appreciate the art of fighting.
It seems unlikely the Mexican would have any interest in entertaining Paul at this point. But with his profile and the noise he keeps making, there may come a time where their paths eventually cross.