Jake Paul has ripped up the old wish list and posted a fresh one: eight names, mega-fight ambitions, and a clear message after the Gervonta Davis exhibition collapsed — he’s not waiting around.
With the November 14 Miami headliner off following a civil lawsuit against Davis, Paul and Most Valuable Promotions are pivoting fast and thinking bigger, as laid out in an interview with ESPN and mirrored in fresh reporting elsewhere.
Paul’s original 2021 “hit list” was dismissed as fantasy when he was three fights into his boxing journey, having stopped AnEsonGib, Nate Robinson and Ben Askren. Since then, he’s ticked off a surprising number of those names and stacked wins over the likes of Tyron Woodley (twice), Nate Diaz, and boxers Andre August, Ryan Bourland, Mike Tyson and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., with Tommy Fury handing him his lone pro defeat.
He also owns a decision win over Anderson Silva and a stoppage of Mike Perry, shaping a résumé that turned mockery into money-spinning main events.
“Boxing fans and media thought the list was crazy, ludicrous and impossible,” Paul told ESPN. “But the people inside my circle believed because we know the inner workings of boxing and how good I was getting.”
The now-canceled Davis exhibition was set for November 14 at Kaseya Center in Miami and slated to headline a Netflix card. “Our team has worked closely with all parties to navigate this situation responsibly,” Nakisa Bidarian, CEO of Most Valuable Promotions, said in a statement to ESPN. “While we will not be moving forward with this event, our plan still remains for Jake Paul to headline an event on Netflix in 2025. Details regarding a new date, location, Jake’s opponent, and additional bouts will be shared as soon as they are finalized.”
Ticket buyers are set to be refunded via Ticketmaster, per the promotion.
So who’s on the new eight-man hit list? Paul and Bidarian walked through the names and the logic.
Terence Crawford
Fresh off beating Canelo Alvarez for the undisputed super middleweight crown, Crawford sits atop the sport. For Paul, that’s the point. “That’s a megafight,” Paul said. “I respect him as a fighter and arguably the best pound-for-pound fighter alongside Oleksandr Usyk. I love a challenge, man. I know it would be an incredibly difficult and very, very tough fight. But, at the end of the day, I’m here to test my limits.”
Bidarian added: “Would Terence do it? I don’t know. He’s wired differently.” Legacy, not checks, has long driven Crawford — which is why this would be a long shot. (SOURCE: ESPN)
KSI
The long-running YouTube-era grudge match remains box-office gold if it can be made. But momentum has cooled. “I don’t think this one is super realistic anymore,” Paul said. “We haven’t heard anything from their side in a while.”
Bidarian counters with inevitability: “The fight has to happen. It will happen. I honestly believe it’s going to be the best financial opportunity KSI will have in the sport of boxing.”
Alex Pereira
If Conor McGregor is “fried” — “He’s not going to fight again,” Paul said — then the UFC’s sledgehammer striker becomes the MMA crossover target. “His team is down [to do the fight],” Paul said. “I think the only thing preventing it is the UFC and if these guys can get out of their contracts to fight me. It would be a massive fight at some point, and I know he’s down to make it happen.”
Bidarian’s view: “I think that is a perfect fight to further show Jake’s dominance over the best of the best in MMA.”
Anthony Joshua
Go bigger? Literally. “People are telling me to fight someone my own size. OK, how about I fight somebody who is bigger than me?” Paul said. “His size makes him a tougher challenge than Crawford. That’s the most dangerous fight for me right now.”
While surgery and scheduling complicate the near term, Bidarian is clear: “Joshua is unequivocally a fight that he wants, and I will do it for him.”
Tommy Fury
The rematch that gnaws. “This is the only fight that has nothing to do with the business of it,” Paul said. “No one cares about Tommy Fury, but I have to avenge that loss. It must happen at some point.” John Fury recently told iFL TV talks are ongoing, saying: “Well, we are trying to do what we can. We are looking at the Jake Paul rematch… I have given them a number; let’s see if they can meet it. If they don’t meet the number … f*** off.”
This has since been confirmed once again, with John saying on Tommy’s Instagram Stories: “Well, [the rematch] should have happened six months ago, we’ve been trying to put this together now for nearly a year. But, unfortunately, [Paul’s team] are the ones putting the breaks on things by being greedy. So we won’t sign the contract. They want most of the money […] we’re not being treated fair by them. So, I’ve given them my number, it’s a ‘yay’ or a ‘nay’ thing. Either take it or leave it. But it’s not us putting the deal up, it’s them.”
Bidarian adds: “Unfortunately, the only reason it hasn’t happened is because of business… What they are asking for just doesn’t make any rational sense to me. But, for me, that is the fight I want the most for Jake.”
Oleksandr Usyk
Not in a ring — in a cage. Usyk’s public callout arrived via X while promoting The Smashing Machine, where he said: “Soon, I’ll close the book on boxing, and after that, I’ll be waiting for you in the cage. Let’s see if you’ve got the balls or just a hunger for hype.”
Paul’s response folds Usyk onto his MMA slate: “He’s on my MMA hit list, which also includes Nate Diaz. I just think it would be an insane event and something fun to do where I can go back to my wrestling roots, start kicking and work on some jiu-jitsu.”
Canelo Alvarez
According to Paul, this was done once before it wasn’t — a deal agreed and then undone when Canelo aligned for a Crawford fight under Turki Alalshikh’s umbrella.
The door isn’t shut. “I think Turki is the man who can make it happen,” Paul said. “I’m open to it, Turki has expressed some interest in it, and, obviously, Canelo had already signed up to fight me, so I think all that is left to do is to make it happen.”
Ryan Garcia
A volatile rivalry with massive reach — and timing to sort. Bidarian tells ESPN: “That fight makes all the sense in the world. It could happen in 2026 or 2027. Ryan’s a great boxer, he’s naturally bigger than ‘Tank’ Davis and is an unbelievable promoter. If there were any two fighters who understand promoting, getting fans interested in showing up and creating disruptive moments that the world focuses on, it’s them.”
All this resets swiftly after Davis’ legal situation ended the Miami exhibition. ESPN reported that, in the immediate aftermath, Most Valuable Promotions explored late-notice replacements — with Francis Ngannou confirming he passed, and names like Ryan Garcia, Andre Ward and Nate Diaz also floated — before choosing to pull the plug and regroup for 2025.
The list will come as a huge disappointment for Eddie Hall and his fans, who had been vocal in pursuing a fight against Paul, even saying he’d fight him “with one had tied behind his back.”
The bottom line for Paul’s new eight: some are long shots, some are needle-movers, one is personal, and a couple would require a cage instead of ropes. But the intent is unmistakable — leverage star power, chase legacy moments, and keep the Netflix-era spectacle rolling.
Let’s see if we’ll see any of these bouts before the end of 2025.
Featured image credit: Instagram/JakePaul/TommyFury
