As of Tuesday night I really had no idea what direction this latest column was going to go given that not much is really going on in boxing to end the summer. I was thinking about penning something on the quagmire that is the junior middleweight division (seriously, is anyone going to face Bakhram Murtalaziev?) but then came the news on Wednesday morning.
It was reported that Jake Paul and Gervonta Davis would be engaging in an (exhibition?) fight on November 15 at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta on Netflix. (It was later stated by Mike Coppinger of Ring Magazine that this event would take place the night before on Friday.)
So yeah, there it is. Jake Paul has landed the fight with 'Tank' before Shakur Stevenson. So has the circus come to boxing, or has boxing gone full circus?
Now there are some doubts about the veracity of these reports, but be honest: at this juncture wouldn't you be more surprised if this 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 true?
The date of this bout is basically a one year anniversary of Paul's bout with Mike Tyson, which took place on November 15 at AT@T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, which not only played to a sizable throng inside 'Jerry's World' but to tens of millions throughout the world on Netflix. The audience was so vast it basically overloaded their servers.
Everyone involved got paid well and nobody got hurt. What you didn't think active boxers wouldn't want in on some of this action? Folks, this was inevitable.
Say what you will about Paul -- except that his fights are rigged/fake, that might get you sued -- but he has crafted a business model that has worked for him. PT Barnum would be an admirer of his. Back in late June, he out-pointed Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, meaning that this upcoming assignment will represent his third bout in that 12 month stretch.
Does your favorite fighter have that many in that same period?
You can choose to be outraged at Paul, but hey, he's just running his business. If there is to be any derision it probably should be aimed towards Davis, after all, he's the 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 fighter, here. He's the one rated second in the lightweight division by Ring Magazine, and the current holder of the WBA 135-pound title. Some even put him in pound-for-pound lists. (By the way, Paul weighed in at 199.5 pounds for Chavez. I assume Paul-Davis will be a catch-weight contest.)
There were some whispers that coming in to Davis' March date versus Lamont Roach that a clash with Paul was already signed. But a funny thing happened, Roach didn't read the script and gave Davis the toughest fight of his night at the Barclay Center in Brooklyn. But with the help of the NYSAC he was able to salvage a draw and retain his title.
PBC
A summer rematch was planned but then unplanned. It turns out it really didn't matter the result of their first fight, there was business to be had. Hey, this is all about risk-reward, and for Davis there is much less risk and a lot more reward in facing Paul than there is Roach.
This whole scenario reminds me of a conversation I had with a long-standing member for the boxing business as I was walking out of the Fox Theater in Pomona. We spoke on a few things regarding the state of the industry and I told that the the needs and the wants of the fans (y'know, the paying customers) are never actually discussed by the powers-that-be when it comes to presenting fights. It's just a series of business decisions that serve the interest of everybody but the poor working stiff who still follows this sport.
This individual, who is a well-known promoter, could not disagree. Many observers and perhaps even some media members will be outraged over this fight -- while at the same time probably watching and covering it as it takes place. Hey, I'm not knocking them, we all have our peccadillo's and jobs to do.
The bottom line is that Paul and Davis are going to do this whether any of us like it or not because it benefits them. There's nothing that can be done to stop them.
As Bill Belichick has been known to state: it is what it is.
