Jake Paul will fight a boxer with a winning record in his October ring return, essentially ruling out Andrew Tate as a potential opponent.
Tate is a four-time former kickboxing world champion and boxed regionally in the UK during his younger years, but has no officially licensed boxing matches, meaning he would not qualify for Paul's requirements. There had been talks between the pair's teams and both Andrew and his brother Tristan Tate met with the YouTuber's manager Nakisa Bidarian.
But it now seems Paul will instead face a more traditional professional boxer, as well as beginning his move down from cruiserweight to light-heavyweight. He has agreed to face KSI at Wembley Stadium next year in a winner-take-all bout at a career-low weight of 180lb, and eventually wants to fight for world honours at 175lb.
His promotional outfit Most Valuable Promotions have confirmed that he will fight at a 185lb catchweight, saying in a tweet: " Jake Paul has requested that his next fight, in October, be contracted at 185lb."
Paul had previously tweeted, likely in response to his rival KSI fighting a 2-5 professional named Luis Alcaraz Pineda who has fought as light as 139lb, that he would be fighting a boxer with a winning record next. "My next opponent will be a pro boxer," Paul wrote. "And of course he will have a winning record just like Timmy and Ramen did before they pulled out. October."
A big-time pay-per-view fight with Paul would have been a welcome reprieve from Tate's recent blacklisting from major platforms. The kickboxer and entrepreneur had been banned for Twitter for some time, but has now been kicked off Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and TikTok for unspecified violations of their terms of service.
Paul has been a very outspoken of Tate's for the past few weeks, slamming his fans for listening to his messages and insisting that following his advice will result in young fans being "spit on". But he came out in support of the controversial star in a recent tweet, defending him in his battle with intense censorship, saying: "Both of these statements are true: 1) I don’t agree with a lot Andrew Tate’s opinions 2) I don’t agree with censorship Who is with me?"
Tate insists there are darker forces at play, and has pleaded his innocence amid his slew of bans from tech giants like Meta, Twitter and Tik Tok. "The media is spinning a false image of me, on repeat, and Instagram bowing to pressure is a massive shame," a statement read.
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"I will always have millions of fans around the world and my platform would be a beacon of light, teaching people of all genders and races how to respect one another for years to come. Now these fans can not learn important lessons of love. Why?
"In time, the world will learn the true nature of my heart. I am a strictly religious man who believes god wants the truth to prevail. I have nothing but positivity to spread regarding all people, whether male OR female, and this has been reflected in all of my recent messaging and posts.
"I am a mixed race man raised by a single mother. I suffered all of the disadvantages of the old world. I am a fantastic role model for all people, both male and female. The outpouring of support for me has been immense.
"I will continue my charitable acts as it is true to my nature, in time the world will understand to see beyond what they're told, to think for themselves and not believe everything they read. I am genuinely innocent. But I truly believe god will prevail."
