Jake Paul has been offered a chance to stick around in the heavyweight division following his controversial main event with Anthony Joshua.
The American superstar lasted six rounds with ‘AJ’ before suffering a knockout blow that broke his jaw in two places. He impressed some fans by making it that far, evading shots and somewhat frustrating the former two-time heavyweight champion with unorthodox clinching.
Where Paul goes next remains to be seen, but willing dance partners will not be in short supply.
Speaking to IFL TV, former world title challenger Dillian Whyte — who was also stopped by Joshua in a 2015 battle for the British belt — did not blame his countryman for taking the fight. In fact, he put himself forward as Paul’s next opponent for the same financial reasons.
“No, I’ll take that. I’ll definitely take that. I’ll fight Jake Paul next if he wants it. But I’ll go after him. I’ll tell you want, I’ll definitely put him away in one or two rounds. No way he’s getting past that. That’s such a big moral victory for Jake saying that he went so many rounds with Anthony Joshua. That’s more rounds than previous world champions have been with him. That’s crazy, isn’t it? Well done to him.”
It’s an outcome Whyte believes Joshua should have forced, unimpressed by his former rival’s lack of urgency.
“He should’ve made it his job to spark him in the first two rounds. Just cut the ring off, he can run as much as he wants. Just apply pressure and bash him up. But AJ seemed a little bit gunshy at times and unsure of himself … Jake threw overhands and they caught him – I was like ‘huh?’”
Despite the call out, Paul is likely to drop back down in weight and target more big names, perhaps from the MMA world. There are also questions on whether or not he fights again full stop, with the recent surgery on his jaw potentially leaving some commissions wary to approve a license.