Viddal Riley’s promoter Ben Shalom has detailed plans to approach Jake Paul about a potential mega-fight between the pair. The BOXXER chief has affirmed that he will contact Paul’s team after his upcoming fight with Anderson Silva on October 29.
Riley (6-0) is a 2014 Youth Olympian for Team GB and won eight-time national championships as well as a European junior silver medal during his amateur career. Since turning over as a professional in 2018 he has gotten off to the perfect start, winning all six of his contests with three inside the distance.
Providing Paul defeats former UFC middleweight champion, Silva, next weekend, he too will be 6-0 as a professional and has regularly spoken about the need to face a “real boxer”. The Problem Child has competed against MMA fighters, NBA players, and YouTubers but is yet to square off against a credentialed boxer despite his best efforts.
Shalom believes this alongside Riley’s massive social media following (over 1.2million YouTube subscribers) will make him an appealing proposition for Paul.
“Not only is he a huge sensation online but he’s also a very very good boxer, and a proper boxer, and a real boxer who is very young and should be taken very seriously. I think he represents the perfect step up and the perfect opponent but it’s something we won’t touch until after this fight.”
Riley rose to prominence as the trainer of British YouTuber KSI. While he was still an amateur boxer, Riley worked as a personal trainer at a gym in Stratford which is where he met the internet sensation.
Riley trained KSI for his first three fights including both Logan Paul bouts. However, The Nightmare is now boxing out of London Shoot Fighters under Alexis Demetriades.
On November 12, Riley makes his in-ring return at the AO Arena, Manchester against a currently undisclosed opponent. According to Shalom, his next fight will be announced early next week.
He continued: “Viddal’s numbers are crazy in terms of the background he comes from. He wants a step up, we’re looking at it at the moment, I expect to confirm an opponent early next week but he’s wanting to be moved fast, he wants to be challenging for titles next year.
“He’s looking up the Lawrence’s [Okolie], the Chris Billam-Smith’s, The Richard’s [Riakporhe]. He wants to be mentioned in and amongst those names very soon and he’s got a huge fan base and is someone we’re very excited about.”