Is Jake Paul a grifter? We’re not saying he is. However, he has been fighting washed-out MMA veterans who are way past their prime. On Saturday, he decimated yet another former UFC fighter, Mike Perry. It was easy work for Paul as he kept treating ‘The Platinum’ like a punching bag throughout the fight. The gulf in skill level between the YouTuber-turned-promoter and the BKFC ‘King of Violence’ title holder was immense. Perry looked flat-footed and kept his guard down, while Jake Paul stayed behind the jab and ran circles around him.

Safe to say, the former Disney star was in no way tested, as he cruised through the fight and secured a sixth-round knockout. Paul’s performance might have impressed the casual fans, but an elite practitioner of the ‘sweet science’, and grandson of legendary boxer Muhammad Ali, Nico Ali Walsh, won’t be fooled by the hype surrounding Jake Paul. Right after his performance against Perry, Walsh commented, “This dude is not gonna get any better fighting these opponents.” 

The pair have been trading verbal jabs at each other for quite some time. Walsh had earlier commented that Paul belonged to the “circus league of boxing”, and had turned down a million-dollar fight contract from him. On the other hand, Paul has responded to Walsh’s recent remarks on him and claimed that he was too afraid to get into the squared circle with the 10-1 pugilist, with seven KO wins.

Is Nico Ali Walsh afraid?

In an interview with Title Sports Network, the victor of the ‘Fear No Man’ PPV main event called Walsh “soft” for refusing to fight him. “He is a bi*ch. He already denied the contract. He don’t want the smoke. Nico you are a bitch. C.mon bro,” Paul said mockingly.

Previously, following his hard-fought win over Sona Akale last month, Walsh stated during his in-ring interview that no amount of money could ever bait him away from the “real league of boxing”. Implying that he wanted to protect the integrity of the sport,  he commented, “I want to let everyone know that I chose the path of boxing and I chose the path of legacy. If I wanted to, I could be a millionaire right now. Before this fight, I denied a multi-million dollar contract from MVP Promotions to fight Jake Paul and I’m fighting a real fighter tonight. This is what I’m going to do.”

But Jake Paul wasted no time to respond to Walsh’s comment. Taking to X, he called him a “fraud” who was trying to “duck him”.

Nonetheless, if Paul wants to become a world champion, he needs to test his skills against elite boxers. Already, there are question marks. When the time came to defeat a boxer close to his age, the then 24-year-old Tommy Fury, he lost. Nonetheless, who else did Paul call out following his emphatic victory against Mike Perry?

A date with ‘Poatan?’

Apart from addressing Mike Tyson, and sending a warning about taking his “throne”, Jake Paul has also called out UFC light-heavyweight champion Alex Pereira who has lately been sweeping through opponents in his division with vicious knockouts.

“Alex Pereira, you say you want to box, I’m the king of this. I’m the king of this. Come over. We can make it happen. I want you, Alex Pereira. … I just beat a BKFC champion. I’ve beat multiple UFC champions. He said he wants to box. So Alex Pereira, after Mike Tyson, let’s make it happen,” Jake Paul said during his in-ring interview.

Furthermore, Paul also face-timed Pereira in the ring following the KO win. Confronting him, Paul issued a threat to the elite Brazilian kickboxer. “The bigger they are, the harder they fall,” he told straight to Pereira’s face.

However, the chances of that happening are very slim as he is bound contractually with the UFC. And, White, very rarely allows fighters in his promotion to cross over to the ‘sweet science’. Nonetheless, would you be interested to see Jake Paul get in the ring with Alex Pereira after the Mike Tyson fight in November? Let us know in the comment section below.