Jake Paul didn’t get the star welcome into boxing that he thought he would. Most criticized him for undermining the sport’s integrity with his unique brand of matchmaking. However, despite the backlash, he has stuck to it. And in many ways, it has worked out well for him. His last match against Mike Tyson was streamed by so many people around the world that it caused the Netflix servers to crash. Now, ‘El Gallo’ has landed yet another big name for a fight. His next opponent is the WBA lightweight champion, Gervonta Davis, one of the biggest stars in boxing today. However, as is often the case with the YouTube-turned-boxer, the announcement of Jake Paul’s November 14 exhibition fight with Gervonta Davis has drawn a lot of heat from fighters and fans alike. One of the most recent among the bunch is UFC Hall of Famer and commentator Michael Bisping, who claimed that this boxing match is nothing but a massive letdown.

Initial discussions about Jake Paul‘s next opponent centered on Anthony Joshua, with the 35-year-old’s team confirming that talks were indeed underway behind closed doors. ‘AJ’ is undoubtedly a formidable challenge, and Paul may have recognized this, as reports suggest he pushed for an exhibition fight. However, Joshua was only interested in a professional bout. This could explain why Gervonta Davis stepped in and agreed to an exhibition.

Michael Bisping calls Jake Paul a “bully”

However, Michael Bisping claims that Jake Paul should have never picked Gervonta Davis, who is a lightweight, as an opponent, regardless of the exhibition setting. The massive weight difference between the two is a gap too large. While comparing Paul’s weight in his heavyweight fight against Mike Tyson, the difference appears to be around a hundred pounds, which is certainly a jarring thing to comprehend for The Count.

“Jake Paul is taking on… Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis, a man that is a lightweight in boxing. Now, lightweight in MMA is 155 lbs. Lightweight in boxing [is] 135 lbs,” Michael Bisping explained in a clip on his channel. “Jake Paul. I think when he weighed in for Mike Tyson, [he] was 227 lbs. That is, if I’m not mistaken, a 92-pound weight difference. Almost a hundred-pound weight difference. It’s insane. Let’s say he comes in [with] 200 lbs. It’s still a 65-pound weight advantage, which is absolutely ridiculous.”

Jake Paul has mentioned his wish to become a world champion one day, but Michael Bisping believes he can never prove his worth with fights like these exhibition bouts against smaller and older opponents. But apart from sharing some advice with the 28-year-old, Bisping gave him a reality check, calling him a bully.

“How can you be out there claiming to want to fight the best people on the planet and then going out there and taking on a guy that is maybe 92 lbs heavier… That is called one thing. That’s called being a bully,” Bisping exclaimed. “If you want respect from your peers, if you want everyone on the planet to look at you and take you seriously and give you credit as a boxer, you have to take on challenges that are real.”

While such fights seem to rub the people in the combat community the wrong way, some popular journalists claim that such fights have always been part of boxing. And guess what? It’s not even Jake Paul’s fault that these kinds of fights are gaining traction.

Is Paul the new face of “circus” fights?

Renowned combat sports journalists Adam Catterall and Gareth A. Davis spoke on talkSPORT’s YouTube channel about the upcoming Tank vs Paul fight, with the latter sharing a thought-provoking take on the evolved boxing game. Claiming that Floyd Mayweather vs Conor McGregor was the fight that started it all, he highlighted that whenever there is money to be made, people will always go for it.

“We had Conor McGregor vs Floyd Mayweather six or seven years ago. That was MMA meeting boxing… That was a circus,” Gareth Davis stated. “There’s always circus events in boxing. There’s always has been. When money is to be made, people make the matchups. The only reason Gervonta Davis is taking that fight is to make money.”

As long as the money keeps flowing, Jake Paul may take his time before making his championship dreams come true. Or do you think his championship dreams are uncertain? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below, and give us your take on the fight against Gervonta Davis.