Jake Paul still wants Canelo Alvarez, and he made sure Canelo heard it again. After watching Alvarez bounce back from his loss to Terence Crawford, Paul sent the four-division star a fresh message. Yardbarker summed up the callout in three words: “We Will Dance.” Bloody Elbow pushed the story on X Monday, with Paul once again angling for the blockbuster he’s been chasing for years.
The comeback that set this off happened Saturday, Oct. 31. Alvarez beat Christian Mbili by unanimous decision on cards of 115-112, 116-111 and 117-110, and Championship Rounds noted the win made him a three-time super middleweight world champion. That 115-112 card says Mbili gave him real problems for stretches. The other two say Canelo controlled enough of it to leave no doubt.
Paul’s actual next fight
Paul’s own schedule points somewhere else entirely. Most Valuable Promotions made it official Monday morning: Paul vs. Cédric Doumbé, Thursday, Dec. 24, at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai. Ariel Helwani reported it’s eight rounds at cruiserweight, with the broadcaster still TBA. It’ll be Paul’s first fight since the Anthony Joshua bout in December 2025. MVP is billing it as “SANTA VS. THE GRINCH,” and tickets go on sale Sunday, Nov. 15.
View post on X
Doumbé is a fascinating name to drop into a boxing ring. He went 63-7-1 as a kickboxer before moving to MMA, where he’s 6-1. His last fight was an MMA win in May 2024, and Helwani reported he quietly stepped away to focus on family and personal matters. His boxing résumé is a single fight, a win, back in April 2015.
Darren Till is furious
One man who did not enjoy Monday’s announcement is Darren Till. The former UFC welterweight title challenger told Helwani he’d been preparing to fight Paul on that same Dec. 24 date. “I think we agreed on a price... I thought we were all good to go,” Till said, adding that he’d spent the past two weeks in camp with his coach before the Doumbé news dropped.
View post on X
Then he unloaded. Till called the event “a fraudulent show,” took aim at Paul’s size advantage, and didn’t spare MVP’s leadership either: “Nakisa’s a little fraud, wasting my time.” On the weight gap, he didn’t hold back: “Cédric Doumbé’s at 170 pounds... Jake Paul’s 220, 225 pounds.” His verdict on the matchup: “It’s a farce again.”
Here’s my read. Doumbé was one of the most electric kickboxers of his era, and I’ll watch anything he’s in, but his last boxing match was more than 11 years ago, and if Till’s weight numbers are anywhere near right, he’s walking into a cruiserweight fight from the welterweight neighborhood. That’s a weird way to build toward a guy who just took Christian Mbili’s belt across a full fight. Paul can talk about dancing with Canelo all he wants. On Dec. 24 in Dubai, his partner is a 170-pound kickboxer, and Darren Till is at home with two weeks of camp and nobody to hit.
View post on X
