August 25, 2018. That’s the day it all started when Jake Paul laced up the gloves for the first time to beat Deji in his sole white-collar amateur boxing match. Since then, the Ohio native fell in love with the sweet science—even eyeing a world championship title now. Consequently, one opponent El Gallo remained fixated on until yesterday was Canelo Alvarez. So, what changed?

Viewers were glued to their screens in record-breaking numbers when Paul beat Mike Tyson in their highly anticipated Netflix showdown. While the duo bask in their glory, the fight continues to draw scathing responses from the boxing world, mainly directed at the 27-year-old star. Another boxing icon joined the chorus of criticism—recently. It is none other than the man he has been eyeing for the last six years.

Jake Paul drops Canelo Alvarez dream

After watching Tyson risk his health inside the squared circle, several boxing world champions called out Jake Paul in hopes of avenging their favorite Uncle Mike. While boxing pros from Gervonta Davis and Artur Beterbiev to Edgar Berlanga and Muhammad Ali’s grandson, Nico Ali Walsh, rally for a fight, Canelo Alvarez remains Paul’s endgame. However, his plan took a dramatic U-turn.

Canelo did not mince his words while sharing his take on the aftermath of Paul vs. Tyson. As seen in a video uploaded by FightHype on YouTube, the Mexican icon stated, “You know, I feel sad about what I saw from Mike Tyson.” Elaborating further, “Because, at his age and everything. He can’t do that kind of stuff. But it’s business for them, and it’s fine, whatever,” said the former undisputed super middleweight champion.

When asked whether he would consider fighting Paul, Canelo said, “I [did] think about it when I saw the fight, when I see that injustice.” Joining the long line of fighters wanting to avenge Tyson, Canelo was tempted to take on the Problem Child. “But we’ll see,” concluded the boxing star, leaving the fight in fate’s hands.

Despite Canelo’s temptation, El Gallo’s dream fight was marred by the harsh criticism over the Mike Tyson Netflix showdown. Mainly the outrageous claims about their clash being rigged. While MVP issued a public statement to debunk such baseless accusations, the damage was done, as evident in Paul’s reaction to the Mexican icon eventually wanting to fight him. That’s when a former rival jumped in, rallying with a suggestion of his own.

A former rival chimes in

Despite his resilient mindset, Jake Paul couldn’t help but get lost in the chorus of criticism. Affected by the critics tarnishing his win over Mike Tyson, the Problem Child took a dramatic U-turn on the Canelo Alvarez fight. “Why the f–k would I give him the payday? When I beat him, it would be the same bulls–t and lies that Canelo was too small and Jake Paul paid him off,” stated El Gallo in one of his recent X posts.

This particular post was re-uploaded on his Most Valuable Promotions Instagram page. Quickly garnering almost 10,000 likes at the time of writing, the re-uploaded post reached his former opponent, Mike Perry, who wasted no time in suggesting the next possible fight for Paul. However absurd it may sound, the BKFC star rallied for Daniel Dubois.

“Fight the heavyweight Champ that called you out. That’s a great fight. Daniel Dubois vs Jake Paul,” stated the Dirty Boxing Championship co-founder in the comments section of the Instagram post. Notably, the current IBF heavyweight champion is also amongst the long line of boxers wanting to fight El Gallo to avenge Mike Tyson’s loss.

The Floyd Mayweather-esque strategy of fighting popular names is currently working in the Problem Child’s favor in terms of viewership and paydays. While Canelo Alvarez and Daniel Dubois fights have the possibility of drawing huge pay-per-view sales, it is highly unlikely to be his next fight. Nonetheless, to achieve his world championship dream, Jake Paul will eventually have to face a tough challenge in a ranked contender.

Should he look to avenge his loss to Tommy Fury? Or should he fight some other ranked contender to stay true to his dream?