Jake Paul has crossed two big names off his list. ESPN reported Tuesday that Paul ruled out a rematch with Tommy Fury and a fight with former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou as he weighs opponents for his next sanctioned boxing appearance.
The report as it circulated Tuesday morning came with no replacement name, no date and no venue. Two doors closed, and none opened yet. For a guy whose entire business model runs on the next announcement, that’s an unusually quiet way to make news.
The Ngannou part is the interesting one, because Paul has had the former champ on his mind lately. During the week of October 18 to 24, one of the most talked-about clips on r/MMA was Paul asking for Jon Jones to be released from the UFC so Jones could fight Ngannou. So Paul wants Ngannou in a fight. He just doesn’t want to be the one standing across from him. That’s matchmaking, and I’ve got no complaints about a man pitching Jones vs. Ngannou, a heavyweight fight people have been yelling about in hotel bars for years.
Fury is the other name off the board. Paul didn’t leave much room for a second go-round, at least not this time out, and he didn’t hang the rematch out there as leverage, either.
Who’s left
The obvious volunteer is Darren Till. Bloody Elbow ran a headline this week saying Till is “waiting for the contract” to fight Paul. Till has been busy since leaving the UFC. He committed to BKFC and opened that run with wins over Aaron Chalmers and Yoel Romero, which is a weird pair of names to have on the same résumé and a fun one.
Till also has unfinished business elsewhere. He was booked to rematch Derek Brunson on a Misfits Boxing card in Qatar this April, an event that got shut down because of the conflict in the Middle East. Brunson submitted Till about five years ago in what turned out to be Brunson’s final UFC win. Brunson, now 42, makes his BKFC debut on November 20 against Theo Doukas in Myrtle Beach, and he’s already calling for Till next.
“If BKFC want to go back to the UK, let’s get these numbers right, me and Darren Till, gloves off, let’s do it,” Brunson told Bloody Elbow.
So Till has at least two options circling him, and Paul is one of them. Whether Paul actually picks up the phone is another matter, since the only thing he’s committed to so far is who he won’t fight.
My take: passing on a former UFC heavyweight champion is the most honest thing Paul has said in a while, and I respect a straight answer even when it’s a no. Saying no is the easy half, though. He still has to name somebody. Till says he’s ready, and he’s sitting by the mailbox waiting for the paperwork.
