In his latest Metro column, heavyweight contender and Olympian Frazer Clarke looks down a troubling road for boxing with legitimate world champions now queuing up to fight Jake Paul.
Watching Jake Paul beat Mike Tyson, there was only one word to describe it: sad. It wasn’t enjoyable at all. It shouldn’t have happened and I’m just glad Mike got out of it without getting hurt. I have to give Paul respect in that sense, he took his foot off the gas towards the end and I’m glad he did otherwise it could have got really nasty.
People are queuing up to call Paul out now with IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois among them. It’s a bit disappointing to see. But we see how the sport works now. It is money-driven. Dubois is world champion, he put in one of the best performances of the year to beat Anthony Joshua just two months ago.
But we all know what fighting Jake Paul can do for you so it seems like every man and his dog is giving it some thought. I understand it to an extent but if you’re a boxing purist like myself you know the legends of old would be turning in their graves seeing what is going on now.
Young boxing fans, the kids, they think it is normal. They don’t want to be like Muhammed Ali or Sugar Ray Leonard, they are saying now we want to be Jake Paul.
Boxing needs to make a stand if that fight happens
I don’t know how realistic that fight is. Jake Paul is not ranked with the IBF, he has never fought a ranked opponent, he has never fought any heavyweight. But it would be pathetic and a kick in the teeth to any man who has worked their way up there.
It would get to the point where we would have to start making a stand and do something about it. Because that gets beyond a joke. A 58-year-old Mike Tyson is one thing but the current heavyweight champion of the world is another.
I would like to say it would never happen. But if I’m honest, the way boxing is, you just don’t know. The way everyone is in a position to line their pockets, it wouldn’t surprise me one bit.
Everyone would earn and earn big. The organising bodies, everyone lines their pockets. And to be very honest, I can’t begrudge people for that. But there some things right and some things wrong in this sport and this would be beyond that.
There would be a lot of unhappy people. But nowadays it is a case of ‘if you don’t like it lump it’. A lot of people didn’t like the Tyson vs Paul fight but no one could do anything about it.
Daniel has a big fight coming in February. It’s not going to be the Anthony Joshua rematch, I am hearing a lot of things about Joseph Parker which would be a brilliant fight. But Jake Paul… I don’t want to hear that.
It’s bleak, but we can’t be hypocritical
You just have to expect the unexpected in this sport now. I do feel disheartened. but at the same time, I know I can’t be a hypocrite. I can’t sit here and say I wouldn’t be taking an opportunity like that with both hands, fighting one of these clowns for silly money. I would be doing it to secure my financial future for my family.
At the same time, it would be hypocritical because it’s not what I believe in. If someone offered me the fight I would be a fool to say no. Because no one else will be doing that, there will be someone in the queue behind me biting their hand off.
We’ve already seen the top boys do it. Artur Beterbiev and Dubois are keen. If it was offered to Joshua or Tyson Fury, I am sure they would do it. Canelo will eventually do it. So who am I to say otherwise? These are the guys we look up to and if they consider it, why shouldn’t we?
Taylor vs Serrano a fight for the ages
We didn’t need Tyson vs Paul, but Katie Taylor vs Amanda Serrano was sublime. Any boxer of any age, man or woman, can take so much from that fight. It was two top quality operators at the very top of the game.
When you fight at that level, you know it is always hard and competitive. There was a lot in the fight, so many twists and turns but I still think despite all that they both delivered and Katie showed her class.
She is so good at what she does, she’s the best to do it in terms of female fighters. Claressa Shields has done amazing things too but Taylor absolutely gives value for money every time.
Cuts are always going to happen. There were mixed opinions about it but the pace that fight was fought a, it is sometimes inevitable. Were there some roughhouse tactics? Possibly. Katie is one of the nicest people in boxing but this is the fight game. She’s a professional and knows how to win. You do what you do to win the fight.