By Manny Delgado: Canelo Vs. Jake Paul, according to Eddie Hearn, is a done deal. In boxing, regardless of the source, as far as rumors, supposed and actual claims go, it’s important to keep a levelheaded distance until a fight is announced as official and the contracts are signed. If Eddie Hearn’s claims weren’t enough, Eddy Reynoso has come out to say in an interview that the Jake Paul fight is an actual possibility.
This supposed fight, apparently being a done deal, has thrown boxing fans into an uproar. Boxing Twitter/X, in particular, is divided in support of Canelo as this being a smart business decision for him where he’s set to likely make over 100 million. On the converse, there is complete outrage from fans arguing that this fight would be indefensible for Canelo were it to actually happen.
It is an incessant back and forth between boxing fans that was unavoidable. A fight between a legitimate boxer, Canelo (62-2-2,39 KOs), to put it lightly, who is considered the face of the sport for his accomplishments, against a YouTuber turned boxer, Jake Paul (11-1,7 KO’s), who many consider to be making a mockery of the sport. This is an event that is purely for the spectacle, or what many are calling a circus act, all for the sake of securing a massive bag for both.
A common thread born out of this potential fight, which is a shared sentiment by many fans—the collective consciousness of boxing fans, if you will—is that if Canelo is going to take this route of influencer/celebrity boxing to fill his pockets, he should relinquish the belts. He should effectively retire from the traditions of the sport of boxing and be free to pursue this new venture as he pleases.
The ‘Coward’s’ Way Out
An example of the possible implications this fight would have on Canelo’s remaining career, as a parallel, is a shared sentiment by professional boxers and commentators of the sport. In this case, the belief is that once you give up in a fight, it is instilled in you and that programming is likely to reappear when the going gets tough. Rather than go out on your shield or leave it all in the ring, you will default to the easier option as a means of self-preservation, in short sum, the coward’s way out.
You could say that in a similar manner, that if Canelo vs. Paul becomes a reality post-fight, it would be questionable if Canelo ever made a comeback as a legitimate prize fighter, especially at the tail end of his career, programming of influencer/celebrity boxing now instilled. That may be a stretch of the imagination but not aiding his case is that Canelo’s previous four bouts against easily beatable opposition serve as a testament to what you could consider his early active retirement. It seems Canelo’s reputation as one of the best in the world, who has beaten the best at any given division he’s resided in (obviously excluding light heavyweight against Bivol and the Mayweather loss, as well as Golovkin) is a thing of the past.
Canelo, being as accomplished as he is, is still not without his critics. The insatiable appetite of boxing fans rarely finds fulfillment in any respective boxer’s career, and fans usually feel as if they could have done more. In this regard, It could be said that Canelo is taking the coward’s way out. After all, fans are still adamant about the possibility of Canelo vs. Benavidez, despite the fact that Benavidez is no longer in the 168 division and has even talked about potentially moving up to cruiserweight to challenge Zurdo Ramirez.
Is Canelo’s hunger simply not there anymore as he feels no need to prove anything else, feeling as if he has accomplished everything he needed to? You could deduce this is the case and personally how he really feels given his statements in previous interviews as well as his actions with the bouts he has taken recently. Boxing purists very obviously disagree and feel he needs to continue to defend his titles against opponents who are deserving of the opportunity or fight Benavidez, who will, in the view of many, remain a significant asterisk on his legacy if he retires without fighting “The Mexican Monster.”
Canelo’s Retirement Tour
It seems Canelo’s retirement tour will continue, but what no one could have expected was the legitimate possibility of the circus performance that would be Canelo Vs. Paul. Jake Paul, in the past, oftentimes called out Canelo on Twitter/X and in his post-fight interviews in what was very obviously trolling to become a trending topic on social media, regardless many believed he was serious and was genuinely delusional enough to believe he could win against the likes of Canelo. Still, if that were the case, he would be fighting actual boxers and, not recently, a retired legend in Mike Tyson, who, during their fight and now, is a senior citizen with bad legs.
Jake Paul’s troll-level marketing tactics and so-called “delusion” are on the brink of manifesting into reality an actual fight that no one previously saw any possibility of actually happening. It’s a YouTuber pipe dream. They say money talks, and here we have a perfect example of money over what you could argue is a lack of dignity. But who would turn down the opportunity of over 100 million? for the easiest professional fight of your career. And who’s to say this fight actually happens? After all, in the span of three days, Canelo Vs. Crawford was all but announced, then immediately canceled.
