Jake Paul isn’t impressed with the fights that Floyd Mayweather has taken lately as the now-retired former boxing champion continues engaging in exhibition bouts against largely overmatched opposition.
Right now, Paul is focused on his own fight against UFC legend Anderson Silva on Oct. 29 but he’s fully confident that he will lure Mayweather, 45, into the ring with him at some point in the near future. The only question is could Paul convince Mayweather to return for one more real fight?
“I think he would [fight me] if it was an exhibition for sure,” Paul told MMA Fighting. “The thing is I want it to be a real pro bout and take his undefeated record, which I don’t think he’ll risk.
“But I just think that makes the fight three times as big, three times as hyped. That’s what I’m aiming for.”
In Mayweather’s most recent exhibition outing, he finished mixed martial artist Mikuru Asakura in the second round when they met at a RIZIN event in Japan this past September. Mayweather’s next fight is scheduled against social influencer Deji Olatunji, who is KSI’s younger brother and a fighter who got knocked out by Paul in the fifth-round of an amateur bout back in 2018.
The result of Mayweather’s latest fight combined with the news that he would be facing Deji next prompted Paul to take a social media shot at the 50-0 boxer for continuing to taint his legacy with sideshow performances.
“It’s 2022, Floyd Mayweather is ruining his legacy fighting no-name guys, wasting his fans money, wasting his fans time,” Paul said on Twitter. “He doesn’t even know the names of the guys he’s fighting … to make some money to pay his tax bills.
“Floyd, I will fight you. And you know that’s one of the biggest fights to make in boxing. I weigh 175, you weigh 165 — we can get that done, make a couple $100 million.”
When Mayweather retired in 2017 following a 10th-round TKO win over former two-division UFC champion Conor McGregor, he promised his professional career was over.
Since that time, Mayweather has engaged in numerous exhibition bouts that still get him paid a hefty sum of money without risking his flawless record in the ring. One of those fights came in June 2021 against Paul’s older brother Logan Paul, who lasted all eight rounds against Mayweather with the match also pulling huge numbers on Showtime pay-per-view.
With a lot more boxing experience than his sibling, Paul believes he would offer a greater challenge to Mayweather and he’ll accept the stipulation for an exhibition rather than a professional bout so long as the fight actually happens.
“I definitely think there’s a fight for us in the future,” Paul said. “Whether it’s exhibition or not, we’ll figure that part out.”
