Jake Paul has called on heavyweight fighters including Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk to do more to get the big fights on.
A number of high-profile bouts have fallen by the wayside including Tyson Fury’s undisputed clash with Oleksandr Usyk as well as an all-British showdown between the former and Anthony Joshua, much to the frustration of fans.
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Even Joshua’s fight with American Deontay Wilder, where there are no world heavyweight titles on the line, is showing little sign of coming to fruition at present.
It’s paved the way for headlines to be made across other divisions as well as through the relatively new phenomenon of YouTubers entering the sport.
And Paul, arguably the most successful YouTuber-turned-boxer, has called on the elite heavyweights to ‘stop ducking each other’ for the good of boxing.
“For me the heavyweight division’s in shambles,” Paul told talkSPORT.
“The heavyweight division right now is the only division that’s not stepping up to the plate and making the big fights happen.
“The lightweight division’s doing it, obviously Errol Spence vs Terence Crawford [at welterweight].
“But for some reason in the heavyweight division we’re not getting Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua, we’re not getting Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk, we’re not getting Anthony Joshua vs Deontay Wilder, we’re not getting Deontay Wilder vs Andy Ruiz.
“Like, what are these guys doing? Come on, let’s make the sport a better place.
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“You guys get paid to fight, so get in there and stop ducking each other.”
“Honestly a lot of the times it goes back to the promoters in boxing blocking everything and wanting to make the most money, and who owns the rights to air the content on what platform,” Paul added.
“A lot of times it’s DAZN vs Showtime vs ESPN and it’s all these big parties that get involved.
“But it’s up to the fighters to say, ‘No, let’s push this forward, let’s make this happen regardless of all these crazy things going on.’
“That’s why I give a lot of props to Ryan Garcia, because he was the reason the Gervonta Davis fight happened.
“He compromised a lot to make it work.”
