At 47 years old, Yoel Romero is still going strong. The former UFC 4-time title challenger left the UFC in 2020 to compete in a rival promotion, Bellator, where he did fairly well and even fought for another world title. However, the Cuban-American sensation recently made his boxing debut, and has a vested interest in taking on the YouTuber-cum-boxer Jake Paul, and guess what? Fans believe it could be a very tough outing for ‘El Gallo’.

Yoel Romero recently made his debut in Dirty Boxing Championship, a promotion owned by former UFC and current BKFC star Mike Perry. In a boxing match, that had modified rules, from elbows to ground and pound, the ‘Soldier of God’ came out with an emphatic knockout win in the very first round, following which, he had a backstage chat with Perry and that’s when Jake Paul came into the mix.

Yoel Romero tells Mike Perry that Jake Paul is “ducking” him

Having competed in the middleweight and the light heavyweight division his entire fighting career, Yoel Romero made his heavyweight debut at Dirty Boxing 1. This made Mike Perry a bit curious, who’d engage in a conversation backstage with the 47-year-old, asking him how big he was at the moment. To ‘Platinum’s surprise, Romero claimed to have been weighing around 234 pounds.

Without skipping a beat, Mike Perry straight away asked Yoel Romero, “Why don’t you fight Jake Paul?” The Cuban-American star has been chasing the former Disney star for a couple of years now, but in 2022, Paul turned down his offer. As per Romero, ‘El Gallo’ wanted an “easier” opponent, and that’s when Ben Askren entered the picture.

Nevertheless, Yoel Romero maintains his interest in Jake Paul but doesn’t think the 27-year-old wants anything to do with him inside a boxing ring. “He don’t want to fight me. I wanna fight that guy,” replied Romero. There were some divisive reactions among fans when they came across the former UFC star’s comments, with some raising some serious concerns for Jake Paul.

Paul could be in for the fight of his life, fans react

Some say Yoel Romero is not human, he’s a superhuman. His unmatched athleticism and his super-durable body build have often intimidated his opponents during his combat sports career. Former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker once claimed that he hurt himself while landing blows on the Cuban-American star during their title fight in 2017. And guess what? Some fans believe things could get even worse for Jake Paul. “Yoel would actually hurt that boy,” one fan stated on Instagram.

With that in mind, another fan claimed, “Jake waiting at least another 20 years before he fights yoel,” insinuating that Jake Paul would only consider fighting Yoel Romero when he gets a bit older, which has somewhat been the theme of his boxing career. However, the ‘Soldier of God’ is surely the embodiment of the phrase ‘age is just a number’ because he’s still putting on some of the most impressive performances at 47 years old. So, yes, certain members of the fight community still believe Romero could give a tough challenge to Paul. “Yoel is a scary fight at any age,” an Instagram user commented, to which another added, “Agreed. Yoel would put him down.”

But such fights are rare occurrences and that’s why there are quite a few fight fans who want to see Yoel Romero butt heads against Jake Paul. “I’d like to see that fight,” said one fan as another claimed to have had enough of Paul’s boxing matches. He commented, “I’d rather watch grass grow than another Jake Paul fight.” Also, one user also expressed disgust about the YouTuber-turned-boxer’s choice to always fight older opponents. “We don’t need any more people taking dives against jake,” that Instagram stated. Do you agree with these reactions?

Well, agree or not, Jake Paul’s recent boxing match against Mike Tyson, which might have been an underwhelming one, only grew his stock in the boxing world. He’s become a sought-after figure in the fighting world as we wait to see if Romero finds his way to a boxing match against Paul and takes home a hefty payday at the same time.