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After Jake Paul’s latest attempt to show his boxing bonafides failed even in a victory over Mike Tyson, undisputed light-heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev is giving the YouTube celebrity a chance to follow through with his desire for a match.
In a post on Instagram, Beterbiev wrote “what can you do in the ring against the current undisputed champ?” while tagging Paul.
Michael Benson @Michael Bensonn
‼️ Artur Beterbiev offering Jake Paul a shot at his undisputed WBA, WBC, IBF & WBO light-heavyweight world titles on Instagram today after the Mike Tyson fight… pic.twitter.com/gZ2pF8T0Er
Paul and Beterbiev have had an off-and-on feud for a couple of years that started when Paul said in 2022 he would rather fight Beterbiev than Dmitry Bivol.
In January 2023, Beterbiev told Paul to “call” people from his camp if he was serious about setting up a fight:
“Tell him to call me, call my promoter. I’m ready to fight him I think it’s an easy fight for me. Do you think it’s a tough fight for me? If I’m a real boxing champion I need to beat guys like Jake Paul in the first round, you know. But maybe something can happen but if I’m a real champion then I should be able to beat this guy in the first round.”
The 39-year-old Beterbiev is 21-0 in his professional boxing career with 20 wins via knockout or TKO. He defeated Bivol by majority decision to become the undisputed light-heavyweight champion on Oct. 12.
That was just the second fight in Beterbiev’s career to reach the 12th round. It previously happened in 2017 against Enrico Kölling with 27 seconds remaining in the final round.
Paul has an 11-1 record in 12 professional fights, but the caliber of his opponents has left a lot to be desired. His most recent win was over a 58-year-old former heavyweight champ whose last sanctioned bout was in 2005.
The list of opponents Paul has defeated include a former NBA player (Nate Robinson), another YouTuber (AnEnsonGib), MMA fighters who were well past their prime (Tyron Woodley, Anderson Silva and Nate Diaz) and a bare-knuckle boxer (Mike Perry).
Anything can happen in a fight, but Beterbiev would certainly be a huge favorite if a bout with Paul were to be agreed upon.
