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Undisputed Boxing Champion Offers Jake Paul A Title Shot

Originally posted on The Spun | By Tzvi Machlin | Last updated Nov 16, 2024 8:46 PM ET

After seeing Jake Paul defeat 58-year-old boxing legend Mike Tyson last night, fans have become tired of seeing the YouTube star battle aging stars or inexperienced opponents and want him to take on legitimate challengers. But one current title holder seems more than happy to give Paul a title shot right now.

Taking to his Instagram Story after the Tyson-Paul fight, undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev offered to give the brash boxer a shot at his titles.

"@jakepaul what can you do in ring against the current undisputed champion? Just know that I'm always open to any suggestions," Beterbiev wrote.

Beterbiev is 21-0 as a boxer with 20 of his wins coming by way of knockout. He became the first undisputed champion in his division in over 20 years last month when he defeated Dmitry Bivol by majority decision to retain his WBC, IBF, and WBO light-heavyweight titles while claiming the WBA (Super), IBO and The Ring light-heavyweight titles to his collection.

The 39-year-old boxer may be a comparatively late bloomer on the world title scene but has been a force in the sport for nearly 20 years. As an amateur he allegedly went 295-5 with gold medals at the European Championships in 2006 and 2010, the Boxing World Championships in 2009 and the Boxing World Cup in 2008.

Suffice it to say, Beterbiev presents a more than suitable challenge to any boxer in his weight class.

That said, boxing fans are already expecting that Paul will refuse Beterbiev's "generous" offer:

"You know very well that Jake will never fight an actual boxer in his prime. He is nothing but the WWE version of boxing..." one user on X wrote.

"Artur by actual murder 3 rounds or less," another mused.

"jake knows he wouldn't stand a chance," wrote a third.

"I wonder what Jake’s excuse would be," joked a fourth.

As much as fans would love to see a boxer in his physical prime annihilate Paul in the middle of a ring, Paul is probably smart enough to know that he's not on the level of a true world champion and wouldn't consider putting his body or reputation on the line for a fight like that, no matter how legit even accepting it would look.

Now if Beterbiev were 60 instead of pushing 40, then we might have a different conversation.

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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