Report: Canelo Alvarez, Jake Paul finalizing deal for boxing fight in Las Vegas
Jake Paul may have pulled off the impossible to land a fight against Canelo Alvarez.
As many times as the Youtuber-turned-boxer has called out one of the best boxers on the planet, Paul’s dream matchup has apparently become a reality. Throughout his pro boxing journey, many have called for Paul to fight a big name boxer in their prime. Well, it doesn’t get any bigger than Alvarez.
According to a report from ESPN’s Mike Coppinger, Paul and Alvarez are finalizing a deal to box on May 3, 2025, at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The fight will take place at the cruiserweight limit of 200 pounds. The spectacle is expected to broadcast live on Netflix.
Alvarez, 34, is the current WBC and WBO super middleweight champion at 168 pounds. In his last appearance in September, Alvarez dominated Edgar Berlanga by unanimous decision to retain his titles.
Alvarez was recently linked to a massive blockbuster fight against super welterweight champion and arguably boxing's pound-for-pound best, Terence Crawford. Despite the name value, it was a curious matchup due to the size difference as Crawford has never weighed in at more than 153 pounds.
However, Ring Magazine reported Wednesday the fight planned for September in Las Vegas was off. Now Alvarez is facing a showdown with an even more unlikely opponent.
Paul, 28, is coming off a huge event against 58-year-old boxing legend Mike Tyson at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The fight was the first live sporting event on Netflix, and sold just shy of 60,000 tickets, generating $18.1 million. Paul's unanimous decision victory was his fifth straight win.
Paul has been calling out Alvarez for years, and finally has the boxing star's attention.
Prior to fighting Tyson, Paul said he he would make Canelo his next target.
"Canelo is on his way out," Paul said on the "TimboSugarShow podcast." "He’s going to want a payday, and I want to show the world that all the sh*t I’ve been talking about beating Canelo is actually true."
During the post-fight press conference following the Tyson fight, Nakisa Bidarian, co-founder of Paul's Most Valuable Promotions spoke about the possiblity of a fight with Alvarez when asked about a potential fight against former UFC champion Conor McGregor.
"We believe Canelo would do a cruiserweight fight," Bidarian said. "There's no way Conor does a cruiserweight fight with Jake Paul."
The Youtuber began his pro boxing career in 2020, and has rapidly become one of boxing's biggest draws, despite fighting against mediocre boxing competition. Paul generated focus by taking on former NBA player Nate Robinson, and then turned his attention to taking out former MMA champions such as Ben Askren, Tyron Woodley and Anderson Silva. The lone loss on his professional record came by split decision against Tommy Fury, brother of retired former heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.
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This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Report: Canelo Alvarez, Jake Paul finalizing deal for boxing fight in Las Vegas
