Jake Paul’s reaction to missing out on a potential Canelo Alvarez fight merits perspective. But there is no way we can reframe this less as a “meltdown” and more as a natural disappointment after losing a major career opportunity. While Paul has built an illustrious (at least on the financial front) boxing career transitioning from social media fame, a match against Canelo – one of boxing’s premier stars – would have been a massive leap in competition.

If you are living under a rock, ‘The Problem Child’ probably lost the biggest possible fight of his career last week. The Mexican boxing superstar was in negotiations to fight Paul until last week. Their potential battle was set to go down on May 3 later this year in Las Vegas. Until it was officially announced on February 6 that ‘Cinnamon’ had signed a deal with the Saudi government-owned Riyadh Season.

“Don’t mess with the lion 🦁… 4 fights for Canelo with Riyadh Season … The Deal is done 🥊 … A Lion 🦁 doesn’t lose sleep over opinion of a sheep 🐑… Fear the lion 🦁 not the jungle 🤷🏻‍♂”, GVA chairman Turki Alalshikh announced on X. Canelo co-signed the announcement with a quote reply to the post, “Let’s go brother.”

‘The Problem Child’ was blindsided with this and took to social media to trash ‘Canelo’, insulting the champ’s Mexican-ness, and contributions to the sport, among other choice words. Needless to say, most fight fans are not on Paul’s side in this feud. Including UFC commentator and former champion, Michael Bisping, whose reaction and take on the whole fiasco echoes almost every other fight fan’s sentiments.

“Shut the hell up, Jake Paul. Give me a break. Canelo Alvarez is a proper boxer, a legendary boxer. He’ll be in the Boxing Hall of Fame. He’s had some incredible fights and incredible skills, and the man takes on real fighters. I am very glad that Canelo Alvarez will not be gracing the ring, stepping into the squared circle with that impostor, with that fake, with that wannabe. Jake Paul has been a tremendous businessman, okay,” the former 185lbs champ thundered on his official YouTube channel.

“He’s not a fighter. Fighters look for real fights. Fight look for challenges. Fighters step into rings where they don’t know that they’re going to win and they don’t manufacture all the circumstances to favor them. They go in there not knowing whether or not they’re going to win. That’s what makes it exciting, that’s not what Jake Paul does,” the UFC commentator declared.

Indeed, one need not look beyond Paul’s last fight to see what Bisping is talking about. Last year, ‘The Problem Child’ fought 58-year-old Mike Tyson, who looked every bit his age in the fight. While the fight did amazing numbers and reportedly made Paul $40 million richer, it was not a real fight.

Moreover, even the UFC head honcho had a scathing reply to Paul’s apparent disdain for the Mexican superstar and Saudi as a whole. At the UFC 312 post-fight press conference, Dana White was asked about the situation, and as always, the UFC CEO didn’t hold back. When a reporter framed it as Alalshikh “stealing” Alvarez from Eddie Hearn and Paul, White was unfazed.

“With what? Who’s able to do that?” he questioned, barely blinking. After the reporter clarified, White’s response made his stance clear—Saudi Arabia now dominates the boxing landscape.

“They control the sport of boxing right now,” he stated bluntly. “I don’t think it’s hard for them to steal anybody from anybody.” While he didn’t claim to know the exact details of Alvarez’s deal, White made it clear that the power dynamic was undeniable. “I’m sure it’s not too hard to steal somebody away to Saudi. Totally different levels there.”

And let’s be honest! How could Paul be taken seriously if his biggest rise to fame is to compete against a fighter who had fought just once since retiring nearly two decades ago? But then again, it is understandable why Paul is so mad at ‘Canelo’.

Why losing the ‘Canelo’ Alvarez fight is a huge blow for Jake Paul?

Even before the Mike Tyson fight, Jake Paul was fighting pretty low-caliber opposition. Most of his past opponents have been undersized MMA stars, who were either already retired or clearly past their prime. The list included Anderson Silva, Tyron Woodley, Nate Diaz, and many more. This is mostly why so many fight fans (including Bisping) hate Paul so much, and don’t consider him a real fighter.

And that is precisely why a potential ‘Canelo’ fight was so important for Paul. The Mexican star may not necessarily be the best fighter in the world anymore, but he is the most famous. A fight against Alvarez may have actually given Paul what he desperately needed- the respect of the fight world and an opportunity to be considered a legitimate fighter. After all, if ‘The Problem Child’ had fought Alvarez, that in itself would have been huge for his prestige.

And if he had gone the distance or even showed heart and courage in a stoppage loss, the boxing world would have no choice but to respect that. But now the former Disney star has lost even the prospect of that happening. He may have to just fight another celebrity or another retired MMA fighter next. This means that his name will remain mud among fight fans. What do you think about Michael Bisping excoriating Jake Paul?