Saul “Canelo” Alvarez told reporters last week that he’s considering accepting Jake Paul‘s challenge to fight him after he watched Mike Tyson, one of the boxing all-time greats, lose to the YouTuber-turned-fighter in a unanimous decision.
“You know, I feel sad about what I saw from Mike Tyson,” Canelo told reporters, per talksports.com. “Because at his age and everything, he can’t do that kind of stuff.”
Asked if Tyson’s loss motivated him to take on Paul’s challenge to a boxing match, Alvarez did not shut the door like he used to.
“I [did] think about it when I saw the fight when I see that injustice,” Alvarez told reporters. “But we’ll see.”
‘It Isn’t Good for Boxing’
In that March interview with TMZ, Alvarez dismissed the Paul-Tyson fight as just a show and not a real boxing match.
“It isn’t [good for boxing],” Alvarez told TMZ. “Netflix is good for boxing, but for that fight especially, I think Netflix is doing something wrong there.”
“I think Netflix being involved, yes, it’s good, but not in that kind of fight. I think it’s more [of a] show than a fight. That’s what I think.”
Despite Alvarez’s dismissive view of the fight, Paul’s decisive victory over Tyson drew 60 million households and peaked at 65 million concurrent streams, Netflix and Most Valuable Promotions announced.
It also surpassed $18 million in gate attendance, which doubled the previous Texas gate record in both boxing and MMA, topping Alvarez’s record of $9 million.
Canelo Alvarez Softens Stance on Fighting Jake Paul
Unlike in the past, when Alvarez repeatedly dismissed fighting Paul while he’s still at the top, he’s softened his stance.
In September 2023, the reigning WBA, WBC and WBO super middleweight champion said he’d only consider fighting Paul on one condition.
“When I’m done with boxing, why not?” Alvarez said on Full Send Podcast. “Maybe, maybe I’ll do it.”
Alvarez clarified it still could happen before he retires from the sport.
“Yeah [when I’m done competing at the top],” Alvarez said. “I think it’s good because what happens is there are other people who never watch boxing, or they don’t know anything about boxing, [and] they want to watch Jake Paul because he brings fans from another world, right? That’s good because everybody [gets to] enjoy it. Maybe [I’ll fight Jake Paul in the future]. Maybe.”
Jake Paul Repeatedly Called Out Canelo Alvarez
Paul has repeatedly challenged Alvarez in the past, most recently after he beat via an eight-round unanimous decision on November 15.
“Canelo needs me, so I’m not even going to try and call him out,” Paul said in the post-fight interview with MMA journalist Ariel Helwani. “He knows he wants a payday. So, he knows where the money man is at.
Before beating Tyson, Paul said he wanted to fight Alvarez in the cruiserweight division. Alvarez weighed in at 168 lbs. when he defeated Berlanga.
“Me vs. Canelo at 200 pounds for the cruiserweight championship of the world is the biggest fight, arguably even bigger than me vs. Tyson,” Paul said on the Timbo Sugar Show before the Tyson fight. “It makes so much sense. Canelo is on his way out. He’s going to want a payday and I want to show the world all the [expletive] I’ve been talking about beating Canelo is actually true, and I’ll have the biggest upset in the history of boxing.”
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