Inside Jake Paul’s opponent hunt
A replacement hunt that spiraled quickly
Jake Paul had expected to face WBA lightweight champion Gervonta Davis on November 14, a matchup designed to close out his year with another high-profile event. But when allegations of domestic abuse against Davis were reported, Paul’s team walked away from the fight.
The withdrawal set off an urgent search. Paul and his management wanted a bout on the calendar before the end of 2024, both to keep his momentum alive and to maintain the financial engine of his growing boxing franchise.
According to comments made to TMZ by Paul’s business partner, as many as “thirty fighters” expressed interest when word spread that the slot had opened.
The pool of possibilities stretched across weight classes and combat sports.
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Ryan Garcia, Nate Diaz and Francis Ngannou were among those contacted, and even undisputed welterweight champion Terence “Bud” Crawford was floated as an option.
Most discussions fizzled quickly, either due to timing, weight, or business complications, leaving Paul without a clear path forward.
That changed when conversations shifted toward former heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua, a fighter whose résumé dwarfs any opponent Paul has faced. The matchup stunned many observers, not only because of the size disparity but also because Joshua typically competes in main-event title-level bouts, not crossover spectacles.
Why Tommy Fury turned it down
One of the calls Paul’s team made was to Tommy Fury, the only fighter to have beaten Paul as a professional. Fury edged him by split decision in 2023, and Paul has repeatedly pushed for a rematch to erase the blemish on his record. To make it happen, Paul’s side reportedly offered a hefty $15 million purse.
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Fury turned it down, and this time, he explained exactly why.
On social media, Fury wrote: “Offering me the fight in America… a place you know I can’t get to right now. Convenient. Offer me the same $15M anywhere else in the world and I’ll be there in 8 weeks to shut you up and repeat what I did the first time.”
The post reignited public debate about Fury’s unresolved travel issues with the United States. In 2022, he was forced to withdraw from a planned fight at Madison Square Garden after U.S. authorities denied his ESTA travel authorization.
The decision came during a period when the U.S. government had imposed sanctions on alleged Irish crime figure Daniel Kinahan, who has been publicly linked to Tyson Fury. Officials never confirmed whether those sanctions were directly connected to Tommy Fury’s case, but the timing raised questions that have never fully disappeared.
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Fans on X (formerly Twitter) quickly chimed in. One user claimed that “all the Furys can’t travel to the USA because of cartel links,” while others pointed out that Tyson Fury has fought in America multiple times, complicating the narrative. Another commenter suggested that Tommy’s father, John Fury, who has a violent conviction record, may be the real source of the problem, though no official explanation has ever been provided.
As Fury’s post circulated, the message became clear: he was willing to fight Paul again, but only outside U.S. borders. Since Paul insisted on hosting the bout in America, talks collapsed almost instantly.
Public reactions and the road to December
After news of the failed negotiations surfaced, both fighters posted their own explanations on social media. Paul criticized Fury for walking away from what he called a “career-changing” opportunity, while Fury insisted he turned down the offer for reasons he wanted made clear to fans, reiterating that U.S. travel complications remain unresolved.
Despite the turbulence, Paul ultimately secured a different, and far more imposing, opponent.
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His eight-round sanctioned fight against Anthony Joshua is scheduled for December 19 at the Kaseya Center in Miami, placing Paul in the most daunting matchup of his boxing career.
For Joshua, the bout offers a chance to stay active as he weighs future title opportunities.
For Paul, it represents a dramatic leap in competition, and a moment that could either legitimize his ambitions or expose the limits of his experiment in professional boxing.
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