2024 was a great year for YouTube star-turned-boxer Jake Paul! The 27-year-old started the year with a victory over former UFC star Mike Perry in July. ‘The Problem Child’ followed that with a win over former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson in an absolute snoozefest in Texas on November 15th. Despite that, the event itself drew huge numbers. 

Netflix, which streamed the fight live across the globe, reported a peak of 65 million concurrent viewers during the event. The event also broke Canelo Alvarez’s record for the biggest gate revenue in the state by raking in $18.1 million. Over a month after the fight though, Paul and his girlfriend are celebrating a new milestone, which even legendary football star Cristiano Ronaldo couldn’t achieve.

So, what’s this achievement? Jutta Leerdam, Paul’s Dutch speed skater girlfriend, took to her Instagram story to reveal that their Instagram reel of arriving at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on fight night back in November garnered 332 million views on Instagram. Leerdam wrote, “The most viewed reel of this year.”

Even Paul shared this as an achievement in an Instagram post earlier today! To give you an idea, Paul boasts 28.7 million followers on the platform, whereas Ronaldo is the most followed celebrity on Instagram with 646 million followers. And his most viewed reel this year had 307 million views, 23 million short of Paul’s. 

However, Paul’s most viewed reel on Instagram this year is the one, in which, he put on a fat suit in October before fighting Tyson. Regardless, with the commotion about Paul’s fight against Tyson dying down, Paul has teased a few names for his next fight. 

Who will Jake Paul fight next?

Jake Paul is once again stoking the fire of speculation with one of his recent tweets, teasing a wide array of potential opponents. The graphic he shared includes both boxing and UFC stars, such as Gervonta Davis, Floyd Mayweather, Conor McGregor, Artur Beterbiev, Ryan Garcia, Daniel Dubois, Alex Pereira, Nate Diaz, KSI, and Tommy Fury. However, only a few of these make sense for Paul’s next fight.

Fights with Davis, Garcia, and McGregor are unlikely due to significant weight differences, while Mayweather seems too distant given their last bout. Beterbiev, who shares a closer weight class, could be a challenging and exciting matchup. Similarly, Daniel Dubois, who has also called out Paul, presents an interesting opportunity. 

The outlier is KSI, the influencer boxing fight fans have been craving for years. After already facing Diaz and Fury, Paul’s next opponent might come from this mix of intriguing options, but KSI remains the most anticipated.

With that said, Jake Paul seems to have wrapped a successful 2024, as he plans to dominate 2025 as well. But the question is, what do you think about Paul’s achievement, which even Cristiano Ronaldo could not accomplish?