Former cruiserweight world champion Tony Bellew has told Jake Paul that he must fight a boxer in his ring return this year.
The YouTuber-turned-boxer is 5-0 as a professional boxer, but he's thus far beaten nobody who had boxed before he met them in the ring. He first defeated social media star AnEsonGib before basketball player Nate Robinson and UFC stars Ben Askren and Tyron Woodley.
And now Bellew has told Paul that he needs to take on a legitimate boxer if his comeback to boxing after eight months out is to be received well. Paul is eyeing up an August return date, although there is no opponent announced as yet, leading to speculation from fans.
"Just a boxer will do," Bellew commented under a tweet from DAZN, where he works as an analyst, asking who he should fight next. Paul could end up matched up with Tommy Fury again, while Mirror Fighting understands that his team are still holding out hope of Nate Diaz getting out of his UFC contract and making a fight happen.
But Bellew would only be happy with Paul fighting someone like Fury, who holds a 7-0 professional boxing record, as opposed to another MMA fighter making their boxing debut.
And the former cruiserweight champion's long-time promoter Eddie Hearn has said that he would love to promote a fight between he and Paul. Bellew hasn't fought since his 2018 loss to Oleksandr Usyk, and has said that while he does have a price for a comeback, would rather not make one.
But Hearn would be interested, telling DAZN : "I’d love to promote it. Anytime you can promote a fight where you can see Jake Paul get chinned would be exciting. Jake Paul just rubs everyone up the wrong way, but I do like what he’s doing.
“People who’ve given so much to boxing, physically, emotionally and mentally, will find what he’s said insulting. I just laugh, but for someone like Tony, who’s dedicated his life to the sport, it doesn’t sit well with those guys. Hopefully, they can bump into each other, and we can see what happens.”
Bellew is not a fan of Paul's comments about being one of the biggest stars in boxing, and has indicated that he should face Anderson Silva in his next fight. The UFC legend is known for MMA, but has beaten former world champion boxer Julio Cesar Chavez Jr in recent years.
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"First of all, I’ve got no hate or malice towards Jake Paul, crack on, do what you’re doing, it’s great," Bellew said on the DAZN Boxing Show. "But in no way shape or form can you claim to carry my sport you absolute f****** muppet, he hasn’t even fought a boxer yet.
"So how can you claim to be carrying the sport when you haven’t fought someone who comes from my sport, it’s unbelievable! I don’t like the fact it’s labelled a boxing match because he’s not facing a boxer.
"If he really wants to fight a boxer, I can tell you someone he can face, Anderson Silva. Anderson Silva is an MMA guy, so he’s not a traditional boxer, but, he has beaten a boxer and he hasn’t just beaten any boxer, he’s beaten the former world champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
"Face someone like him then we can listen to you talk about being a boxer, but until you face a boxer you can’t state that you’re a boxer and last thing you need to do is say you’re carrying my sport."
