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Jake Paul is not one to pass up an opportunity to deliver a well-timed dig at high profile figures.
Mere moments after Canelo Alvarez dropped a decision to Dmitry Bivol in their 12-round light heavyweight title bout at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas Saturday night, the YouTube influencer-turned-boxer could not resist doubling down on his belief that he would be able to beat Alvarez. Paul (5-0, 4 KOs), who has thus far fought mostly former MMA fighters at the cruiserweight limit, has previously claimed he needed “five or six” more fights before he would be ready to face Alvarez.
For once, Alvarez (57-2-2, 39 KOs) had no answer in the ring. Bivol (20-0, 11 KOs), a Russian native and WBA 175-pound champion, used his agility and jab to keep Alvarez at bay for the entire fight. Alvarez looked flustered at times, as he repeatedly failed to penetrate Bivol’s tight guard and avoid Bivol’s effective combinations.
The 25-year-old Paul, citing his size, said he would be prepared to dish out the same sort of punishment on Alvarez, with one caveat: he needs three more years of preparation.
“And just like that Canelo Alvarez loses to Dmitry Bivol,” Paul said in a video uploaded on his social media accounts. “An amazing fight by Bivol.
“I’m two inches bigger than Bivol and 20 pounds heavier. Give me three years and I take out Canelo in the same way. He was up on the ropes like he won but he only won three rounds in the entire fight.”
Paul could not hide his schadenfreude and went on to rag Eddie Hearn, the promoter of Alvarez and who worked with Paul last month to promote the women’s lightweight undisputed title bout between Hearn’s charge Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano, whom Paul manages.
In the buildup to the fight, Hearn dressed down Paul publicly, saying that Paul would not be competitive with a real boxer. That criticism may have contributed to Paul’s surprisingly venomous reaction to his recent collaborator.
“Eddie Hearn, f— you, you can suck my d—,” Paul said. “I’m coming and I’m beating Canelo in three f—ing years, I put that on my mama.
“Congrats to Dmitry Bivol, he showed that Canelo is easily beatable by a bigger man, which is what I’ve known for a long time. Believe in yourself kids and don’t listen to those British scumbags like Eddie Hearn.”