Cruiserweight Jake Paul and lightweight Gervonta Davis announce they will fight on Nov. 14
Paul's promotional company, Most Valuable Promotions, and Netflix announced the highly unusual matchup Wednesday. Netflix will stream the fight worldwide to its more than 300 million subscribers.
The 30-year-old Davis (30-0-1, 28 KOs), a three-division world champion, would be the first star near his ostensible prime to face Paul (12-1, 7 KOs), the online celebrity who has become one of the world's highest-paid combat sports athletes despite never fighting an elite boxer.
Netflix and Nakisa Bidarian, Paul's business partner, did not refer to the fight as an exhibition, but it's unclear how Georgia officials would allow the matchup to be held as a competitive bout, given the fighters' dramatic difference in size and experience.
Paul typically weighs more than 200 pounds in the ring, while Davis is a 135-pound champion who has never fought above 140 pounds. The fighters did not announce a contracted weight or the number of rounds in their planned bout.
The fight would mark a return to Netflix for the 28-year-old Paul, whose victory last November over the then-58-year-old Mike Tyson drew an estimated 108 million viewers globally.
After Paul beat a tepid Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. by decision earlier this summer, he entered the World Boxing Association's cruiserweight rankings at No. 14 , making him eligible to fight for world titles.
Instead of pursuing a cruiserweight belt, Paul recently discussed a fight with two-time heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua — a more logical opponent in terms of size and strength — but shifted his focus to the popular Davis. who has jousted with Paul on social media for years.
Perhaps Paul can look inside his own family for a plan: His older brother, Logan, weighed 189 pounds before fighting Floyd Mayweather at 155 pounds in an eight-round exhibition bout in 2021. Promoters said the spectacle sold more than 1 million pay-per-view buys and made more than $80 million.
Davis has been billed by his promoters as 'the modern day Mike Tyson' because of the frequency with which he has won by knockout, but his career and life have been rocky in 2025. He struggled to a shocking draw against Lamont Roach Jr. in his most recent ring outing in March, and he was arrested on a domestic violence charge in Florida last month before the misdemeanor battery case was dropped last week.
Bidarian said Paul and Davis are 'favorites of the Gen Z and Gen Alpha audiences,' and that their bout will 'determine the true face of boxing's next generation.'
'This isn't just a fight, it's a spectacle that brings together two of the most electrifying figures in boxing today,' Netflix vice president Brandon Riegg said.
___
AP boxing: https://apnews.com/boxing
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
23 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Rams sign OL John Leglue
The Rams signed an offensive lineman for the second straight day on Wednesday. They announced the addition of John Leglue to their 90-man roster. They had an open spot available, so there was no corresponding move. Leglue appeared in one game for the Falcons in 2023 and he made five starts at guard for the Steelers during the 2021 season. He returned to Pittsburgh last season and spent the year on the Steelers' practice squad. The Rams also signed offensive lineman Mike McAllister this week. Both of the new additions could find themselves back on the market when the team makes their cut to 53 players ahead of next Tuesday's deadline.
Yahoo
23 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Are Houston's rookie WRs worth a fantasy stash?
Yahoo Fantasy analyst Matt Harmon and contributor Ray Garvin look at the new faces in the Texans receiving core and explain there's more risk than reward. Hear the full conversation on the 'Yahoo Fantasy Forecast' podcast - and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen. View more Video Transcript I want to talk to both of the Texans' rookie wide receivers. And I, I do want to talk to both of them here, right? I'm really curious what you think about this situation because, in preseason, uh, it has been Xavier Hutchinson running as the flanker receiver with Christian Kirk in on the slot and Nico Collins obviously at X. And when they go to two receiver sets, it's been Christian Kirk as the second outside receiver. So right now, honestly, even though Jayden Higgins is getting drafted, I don't think either of these two guys are gonna have a big week one role. But it's a long season, man, and like Xavier Hutchinson is a nice role player, but not somebody that you want to rely on. They want one of these two rookies to pop at some point this year. And this is an offense that I think is gonna be much better this year. I, I know the offensive line talent is still a question. But I just think them getting some real coaching in here, getting the pass protection rules right is more important than getting five superstars on the offensive line. CJ Stroud having more control at the line of scrimmage is a very under-discussed story in the fantasy space. That's gonna help a lot, again, from a protection standpoint, him being able to ID things, call things out, be that kind of sheriff at the line of scrimmage. Not every quarterback needs to be the cookie cutter, Shanahan-like quarterback. I think Stroud's gonna thrive with more control at the line of scrimmage because he's so smart, he makes good decisions. He's a football junkie, and he's accurate and he's on time with everything. So this is an offense I want to invest in. And even if Jayden Higgins starts to see, this is the thing that's interesting to me. Is that Higgins, in a weird way, because they were using him at X receiver when Nico Collins wasn't playing, and I think, I actually think he would. If he is an X receiver, he's gonna help Nico move around, which is important to me, but also, I think he should probably play as like a jumbo flanker slot player. But I don't want to forget about Jaylen Noel here. Like Jaylen Noel is a badass, man. Like I, I think one of these two Texas receivers is gonna pop this year. You don't need to necessarily draft them. You need to maybe keep them kind of um, in the back of your mind if one of them starts to play more. And I just think the odds that it's Noel instead of Higgins are pretty even, and it's not discussed that way in the fantasy football space. Close
Yahoo
23 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Miss Piggy is going to Broadway—and 'Oh, Mary!' is squealing mad
Miss Piggy, gay icon, is finally set to make her Broadway debut — and one show is Kermit-green with envy. Playbill announced Wednesday that the Muppets will be making their premiere on the Great White Way alongside magician Rob Lake. While it's a long-awaited move for the beloved foam puppets, whose stage presence had previously been limited to Disney theme parks, Oh, Mary! took to social media to bemoan the booking. Some background: When Oh, Mary!'s creator, Cole Escola, appeared on Amy Poehler's podcast, Good Hang, in July, Poehler asked the nonbinary creative who would play the role of the titular character, Mary Todd Lincoln, in a theoretical movie adaptation. (Escola won a Tony this year for portraying Mary, who in their madcap interpretation is an alcoholic more concerned with a cabaret career than the Civil War.) - YouTube Escola threw around some options. "Cherry Jones could do it. She can do anything. She could play Lincoln, too; that would be really chilling," Escola said before landing on a Muppet. "Miss Piggy as Mary Todd Lincoln, and then everyone else is human." "Actually, cut this, I'm gonna be talking to Disney tomorrow," they joked. After it was announced that Miss Piggy would no longer be available, the official Oh, Mary! X account shared their disappointment about the news in a statement released in a Wednesday post. "To our OH, MARY! family — we saw the news about Miss Piggy going into another Broadway show," the Notes app statement read. "Thank you for the support at this time." The X account also uploaded a photo of a screenshot with the Muppets Broadway announcement and wrote in the caption, "Miss Piggy we just want to talk." It's unconfirmed whether or not Miss Piggy will actually be among the Muppets taking the stage; the official press release for the show said that Kermit the Frog and his friends will be joining Lake for his magic show at the Broadhurst Theatre starting this fall as a limited engagement until January 26. If not, this leaves the door open for Miss Piggy to grace the stage at the buzziest show on Broadway right now. (She'd have to contend with Jinkx Monsoon however, who is currently in the lead role. Betty Gilpin and Tituss Burgess have also played Mary in the past.) In a statement, Lake certainly expressed enthusiasm at making magic with the Muppets. "I've been performing magic my entire life, and it has always been my greatest dream to perform my show on Broadway," Lake said. "Like so many people around the world, I grew up with the Muppets. To work with them and create new illusions for them to appear in my show has been the most rewarding and surprisingly familiar moment. It's like I have known them my entire life." This article originally appeared on Out: Miss Piggy is going to Broadway—and 'Oh, Mary!' is squealing mad RELATED Cole Escola reveals who they want to star in an 'Oh, Mary!' film 'Oh, Mary!'s Cole Escola is bringing 'the gay shadows' to Broadway Jinkx Monsoon's next act? Playing Mary Todd Lincoln in 'Oh, Mary!' Solve the daily Crossword
