Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk need to confirm fights against each other and in doing so “make the sport a better place”. That’s the view of YouTuber Jake Paul who has accused heavyweight boxing’s biggest names of “ducking” their potential opponents.
Fans of the sport have been left disgruntled after long-mooted headline-topping bouts like Fury’s undisputed clash with Usyk have failed to materialise. The Gypsy King had previously been expected to take on Joshua in a Battle of Britain clash, but that also collapsed without an agreement in place.
Joshua’s potential face-off in Saudi Arabia with Deontay Wilder is also in serious doubt, leaving social media star Paul questioning why the division’s top stars cannot reach agreements to fight each other.
Speaking to talkSPORT, Paul said: “For me the heavyweight division’s in shambles. The heavyweight division right now is the only division that’s not stepping up to the plate and making the big fights happen.
“The lightweight division’s doing it, obviously Errol Spence vs Terence Crawford [welterweight]. But for some reason in the heavyweight division we’re not getting it. We’re not getting Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua, we’re not getting Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk, we’re not getting Anthony Joshua vs Deontay Wilder, we’re not getting Deontay Wilder vs Andy Ruiz.
“Like, what are these guys doing? Come on, let’s make the sport a better place. You guys get paid to fight, so get in there and stop ducking each other.”
YouTuber Paul, who himself has appeared in high-profile exhibition boxing contests, put the blame at the door of promoters and television rights owners, who he accused of trying to squeeze every last penny out of every possible deal.
Paul said: “Honestly a lot of the times it goes back to the promoters in boxing blocking everything and wanting to make the most money, and who owns the rights to air the content on what platform.
“A lot of times it’s DAZN vs Showtime vs ESPN and it’s all these big parties that get involved. But it’s up to the fighters to say, ‘No, let’s push this forward, let’s make this happen regardless of all these crazy things going on.’
“That’s why I give a lot of props to Ryan Garcia, because he was the reason the Gervonta Davis fight happened. He compromised a lot to make it work.”
Paul is back in the ring himself on August 5 when he faces Nate Diaz in Texas, but has also been trying to arrange a rematch against Tommy Fury after losing their first fight earlier this year.