Jake Paul vs Gervonta "Tank" Davis is inoffensive, but ultimately a cash-grab
Paul and "Tank" square off on November 14 in a mismatched exhibition
Lewis Watson 
Are you a Jake Paul fan?
Our boxing expert here at Free Bets is Lewis Watson, and he takes a closer look at Paul's next opponent!
Last Wednesday’s announcement that Jake Paul’s next dance partner would be Gervonta “Tank” Davis spawned a reaction outside of the typical boxing bubble.
The one where your friend, who typically isn’t a boxing fan, sends you a screenshot of the fight poster, accompanied by a few excited emojis, asking you to explain the five Ws of journalism: who, what, when, where and, most importantly, why?
The simple answer is why not? Since turning his hand to the professional game in 2020, Jake Paul has found it increasingly harder for the boxing world to take him seriously.
He isn’t without blame.
Fights against YouTubers, retired NBA stars, retired MMA fighters and a 58-year-old “Iron” Mike Tyson have strengthened the arguments of his naysayers, but clear dedication and improvements to his skillset have, on a whole, been ignored and dismissed by the traditional viewers of the sport.
The ranking systems of boxing’s sanctioning bodies also split opinion on a daily basis, but the fact that Paul is now ranked at #14 by the World Boxing Association (WBA) meant that, in theory, the 28-year-old could challenge for the WBA’s cruiserweight title, but this notion was routinely mocked following Paul’s most recent win over Julio Cesar Chavez Jr in June.
Paul’s dance card has never been short of names, though few as audacious as those he has pursued this past year. Whispers of Anthony Joshua (still being considered for early-2026), even the glimmer of Canelo Alvarez, crossed his path. But when Alvarez chose to march under the gilded banner of Turki Alalshikh’s Saudi empire, Paul’s ambitions shifted.
And so, his sights were set lower in height and his gaze fell upon the 5-foot 5-inch Davis.
"They’re all going to watch it," Paul said. "And you know what I say to people is, if you don’t like something, don’t talk about it, because you’re just making it bigger. But at the end of the day, people are always going to have something to say about every single one of my fights."
"His is a bigger risk for Gervonta than it was for, you know, Floyd [Mayweather] and Conor [McGregor] in that matchup [in 2017]," He added.
"Conor wasn’t a boxer. Conor didn’t have a weight advantage. So Gervonta is taking a bigger risk than Floyd, in my opinion, and it’s credit to him because of that weight difference. And that’s what makes this a good, even fight, is his skill and experience being top 10 pound-for-pound, and then my weight and height advantage."
In recent years, sport has doubled-down on its pursuit of business over fan enjoyment — and boxing is no different. Schedules in the NFL, NBA and the English Premier League are becoming more and more compact, overseas games are becoming more common, and the bottom line is, well, the bottom line.
Both Paul and Davis understand this. Both are proving to be more than comfortable in prioritising their bank balances over their legacy. They are a symptom of sport veering towards the lure of Hollywood entertainment, rather than the cause.
If this latest cash-grab turns the nose up of traditional boxing, then more dedicated efforts need to be made to get the sport’s house in order. A failure to get a proper, united grip on performance-enhancing drugs, the long-term damage to fighters’ health, corruption, incompetent officiating and conflicting due process of sanctioning bodies all adds fuel to the flames of a sport that is becoming easier to criticize, and harder to defend.
Jake Paul is climbing his own ladder, adjacent to the long tradition of prizefighting — one that Davis now wishes to join — and it’s one that is going to make him more money that he could ever wish to spend. It’s still unclear how tall this ladder can ultimately reach.
Lewis covers boxing, as well as darts betting and snooker betting on Free Bets, giving his opinions and tips for all of the big events throughout the year.
