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WBC belt-holder Kevin Lerena has offered Jake Paul a shot at his bridgerweight title after the YouTube star’s eight-round victory over 58-year-old Mike Tyson.
Paul faced off with Tyson on Friday in one of the most highly anticipated boxing events of the last decade and, subsequently, millions tuned in around the world.
Tyson looked every bit of his age on fight night, and it seemed as though the 27-year-old could have ended the contest at any moment.
Lerena, training out in Malta as part of Tyson Fury’s training camp for his December 21 rematch with Oleksandr Usyk, was one of them.
“Listen, the event was phenomenal,” Lerena told BoxingScene. “Obviously, the fight didn’t live up to the hype, but we all need to step out of the bubble and realize if it was ever going to live up to the hype. You know, ‘Iron’ Mike [Tyson], he’s 58, Jake Paul’s in his prime. It was just, it was a mismatch in the sense of youth versus experience, but the event was great. I tuned in to watch, and I think you’ve got to commend the guy for what he’s done. He’s got the people sitting on their ass watching the boxing, and that’s what it’s all about.
“I think he wants to legitimize his career in terms of who he fights, and he’s obviously looking for step-ups,” Lerena continued. “I’m not saying Mike Tyson wasn’t a step-up, but he’s an older man who’s got health problems, who was a ferocious, vicious fighter in his prime and in his heyday, but we can’t take away the fact that he’s older now.”
Lerena posted a video on social media before Paul’s fight on Friday declaring that he would be willing to offer the YouTuber a shot at his title should he beat Tyson. The WBC title-holder is standing by his statement and gave an honest response when asked why he wanted to face Paul.
“So, why I said I’d fight Jake Paul,” he replied. “Like every other fighter who’s jumping on the bandwagon, for me at least, it’s going to be the biggest payday of my career up until now, should we fight – I mean, I cannot lie. But I kind of come from a similar background in the sense of I’ve had no amateur fights. I’ve only had professional fights, and I’ve managed to achieve what I’ve achieved in these 34 fights up until now with virtually no experience. So, if Jake Paul wants to fight legitimate fighters and you’ve got a world champion who’s giving him a shot, who’s also got little experience compared to other professional boxers, it’s a no-brainer.
“How would I benefit? Well, yes, I’m fighting one of the biggest social media, YouTube, and now, you’ve got to say boxing stars because you’re in the boxing world, so I’ll probably get the biggest payday I’ve ever fought in. How would he benefit? Well, should he lose to Kevin Lerena, people will say, ‘He lost to a legitimate fighter, a world champion, carry on, Jake.’ Should he beat me? Well, then he’s the real deal. I don’t see him beating me. I think I’ll smash him over.
“But you can’t say he’s not legitimate,” Lerena continued. “He takes his craft seriously. He moved to Puerto Rico; he’s got a good team behind him. He’s doing all the right things and giving himself the best chance to be the best professional boxer he can be. So, there are two ways here. He benefits, he gets a world title shot. I benefit, I get to fight one of the biggest stars in boxing and no fighter can tell me that they don’t want to fight Jake Paul for the payday. They just want to fight him because they don’t like him – shut up. We’re in the sport of making the most we can in a very short space of time, and these are the fights that make the most money.”
Lerena is not the only professional fighter to throw his name into the hat to face Paul. Retired former world champion Carl Froch and undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev have taken to social media this week to try and entice Paul into a fight. Lerena believes if some of the biggest stars in the sport can call out Paul, why can’t he?
“I mean, you even had a 140-pounder, 135, Gervonta Davis saying he would fight Jake Paul,” he said. “You had the ex-fighters, former world champions like Tony Bellew saying he’d fight him. Artur Beterbiev mentioned it. I mean, come on, the guy’s a big enough star for those names to mention him. We’re all going to try to jump onto the bandwagon, but I make the most sense for him. I’m giving him a world title shot at a weight that he can make.
“He’s not fighting a guy that weighs 150,” he continued. “He’s not fighting a Conor McGregor who’s at 170, 180, or whatever it is. A guy who’s at 220 for a legitimate world title. As Tyson Fury and I were talking about yesterday, for him, it makes sense. I’m giving him the opportunity. I’m bringing the green and gold to the table and he’s bringing that cash money to the table and a massive presence in the sport of boxing. I think you’ve got to respect both parties.”
One problem regarding a bout between Lerena and Paul is that the YouTuber is currently not ranked with the WBC, although President Mauricio Sulaiman did specify before the fight that Paul was ready to be entered into the ratings committee.
“I don’t think it will be a problem,” said Lerena. “If Mauricio Sulaiman said should he beat Tyson then he’ll be able to get a WBC ranking, at the end of the day, you’ve got to say he’s had 11 or 12 fights. There are guys at bridgerweight who are rated that I think Jake Paul beats, at least 80 per cent of them, to be honest.
“I’m not going to knock him, I’m being honest. I think there are 80 per cent of fighters within bridgerweight that I think Jake Paul would beat. So, I’m sure he could get a ranking within the bridgerweight at least.”
The bridgerweight title is still not recognized by many as a legitimate world championship after the weight division was only created in 2020. Lerena believes that the division needs a big fight, like him versus Paul, to bring more eyes to the weight class.
“It’s a new division,” Lerena said. “But I think it’s a tantalizing fight because it creates big awareness for the WBC around the new weight division and it’s two big men, 220 pounds, going at each other, and what bridgerweight needs. Yes, I’m the champion now, but we all want the big fights, right? So, in a perfect world, Lerena versus Deontay Wilder is a massive bridgerweight fight – should he want to come down and fight at bridgerweight – or Lerena versus Usyk, or whatever it is.
“A belt or weight division, call it super cruiserweight or bridgerweight, is made on who fights for the belt and the magnitude of the fight, truthfully. When cruiserweight came out many, many years back, it needed a bit of traction, and it eventually got that traction. It’s all about who fights for the belt that makes the fight exciting and makes the belt be recognized more and more as time goes on.”