Jake Paul flew to Paris on Tuesday to sell a boxing match with Cedric Doumbe, and he spent a healthy portion of the launch press conference picking a fight with the entire city. A capacity crowd packed in to back their hometown guy and serenaded Paul with loud, aggressive chants. Paul’s response, per Bloody Elbow, was to ask the room, “Why are you booing, Paris? Didn’t this place burn down?” Bloody Elbow framed the line as a shot at recent protests in the French capital, and one that may have crossed the line.
He kept going. Paul later reached for some family history, telling the crowd, “My grandpa died in World War II. We saved you.” He finished the thought with an expletive that talkSPORT described as an X-rated jibe at the hostile room.
Doumbe didn’t take the bait. The two had a genuinely funny back-and-forth for most of the afternoon, and Paul even tipped his cap to Doumbe for his trash talk, which is a rare compliment from a guy who usually wants to own every microphone in the building. When they finally squared up for their first face-off, Most Valuable Promotions boss Nakisa Bidarian stood between them. Plenty was said. Nobody put hands on anybody, which counts as a small miracle for a crossover fight.
The Fight
Paul and Doumbe headline a special MVP card on Christmas Eve (Dec. 24) at Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai. MMA Mania’s Jesse Holland added a pointed “for some reason” after naming the venue, and honestly, fair. You kick off the tour in Paris in front of thousands of Doumbe fans, then haul the actual fight to the Gulf.
This is Paul’s return to the ring after Anthony Joshua broke his jaw last December. Doumbe is a kickboxing world champion and a PFL star, and he’s stepping into a boxing ring against a guy who has made a whole second career out of fighting people from other combat sports. Paul raised the stakes himself in Paris, saying the fight will be his last if he loses.
Darren Till Is Not Happy
The fight Paul was originally discussing was with former UFC middleweight Darren Till, and Till made it clear to Uncrowned that he found out the same way the rest of us did. “I’ve been in camp for the past two weeks with my coach and out of nowhere, this f***ing daft fight gets announced with Cédric Doumbé,” Till said. He then took a swipe at the size gap, saying Paul “probably just wants to see how his jaw’s holding up against someone who weighs about 150 pounds on a good day.”
Quick Take
Till’s not wrong about the optics. Coming off a broken jaw, Paul picked the smaller striker over the bigger brawler who was already in camp, and that will follow him all the way to Dubai. But I’ll give Paul this much. He walked into a room full of people who wanted his head and played the heel like he’d been rehearsing it in a mirror since September, and great villains are good for business. The burning-Paris line was cheap. His promise that a loss ends his career is the one I’m holding him to. If Doumbe makes him eat it on Dec. 24, I want the retirement press conference booked for Dec. 25.
