Devin Haney has nothing bad to say about the July 20th exhibition fight between YouTuber Jake Paul and Mike Tyson on Netflix.
Haney’s attitude is that these types of fights are what the “influencer” Jake does, which is why he got into boxing to make money.
Jake Paul: King of the Pay-Per-View Hustle
Paul, 27, has 26 million Instagram followers, many of whom are willing to buy his PPV events. With that many followers, Jake is potentially the #1 money fighter in the world, even if he’s not a world-class fighter and is just using the sport for a side hustle.
Boxing allows anyone to fight. Unlike other sports, no gateway process would block a person from immediately turning pro and selling their fights if they want.
Any random person can turn pro and begin peddling their stuff if they so wish, and that’s what Jake and his brother, Logan, have done.
“We know what type of fighter Jake Paul is. Jake Paul is an influencer, but he brings a lot of eyeballs to the sport of boxing. That’s what he does. He makes the biggest events happen in boxing. That’s a big event,” said Devin Haney to the Fighthype YouTube channel, giving his thoughts on the exhibition match between YouTuber Jake Paul and 58-year-old Mike Tyson on July 20th on Netflix.
“The world knows what kind of fight it is, and we know why he’s doing it, but you cannot knock Jake Paul. That’s why he got into it. That’s what he does,” Haney said.
Many fans don’t know what kind of fight the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson match is, considering many view it as a real thing and not one in which the two are going just to have fun.
People will order it, believing that these two will be looking to go for the knockout, and when they see that it’s just a playful spar, like Tyson’s exhibition against Roy Jones Jr., they’ll feel ripped off.
Haney on Exhibitions: “If the Price is Right…”
“I think it’s an exhibition match. They’ll go in there and have some fun, make a lot of money, and make it make sense for each other,” said Haney.
“Yeah, I’m open to an exhibition. It’s got to really make sense. The money has got to be worth it because I’m out here fighting real fighters and I’m getting paid well doing it. So, I want to do an exhibition outside of boxing. I’m fighting often.”
It would be a bad look for the 26-year-old Haney if he started doing exhibition matches at an early age because fans want to see him take real risks and stop cherry-picking the way he’s been doing it. Haney needs to fight Subriel, Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis, and Tim Tszyu.
“So, for me to go back into training camp and prepare for an exhibition, it would really have to make sense for me. It’s not my main interest right now. My interest is to fight the best fighters in the world,” said Haney.
