When Jake Paul takes on Mike Perry on Saturday, he’s preparing for a potentially hugely lucrative November bout with Mike Tyson. At least, that’s what Paul is suggesting. Whether that’s true or not, that’s what he’s saying. Still not sure –And it all depends on whether Perry can pull off the upset.
For Paul, taking on the bout is a risk, for sure. Perry was dropped by UFC after a promising start as a fan-friendly brawler with a 3-7 record in his final 10 bouts with the promotion, but has found new life as the biggest star in the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, as well as finding his way with BKFC. Perry has quelled many personal demons. It seemed to be taking his life in a disastrous direction.
Perry has enjoyed success in BKFC by beating his opponents without gloves and leaving them with cuts, swelling and other ailments, amassing a 5-0 record.
Still, Paul has made quite a bit of his boxing career by fighting former UFC fighters, occasionally taking on “real boxers”, defeating a few club fighters, and losing a somewhat controversial split decision to Tommy Fury, but the majority of Paul’s meaningful fights have come against guys like Tyron Woodley (twice), Ben Askren, Nate Diaz, Anderson Silva, etc. Having been a dedicated boxer for many years, Paul has more or less beaten everyone who has attended his boxing fight camps in training.
“It’s about getting experience under the bright lights in my own world and continuing on my path to becoming a world champion and getting experience under the bright lights,” Paul said in his final press conference. “This is just an appetizer for Mike. Mike’s a warm-up, but at the end of the day they’re both killers and I’ve got to be sharp. He has the power to knock someone out with one punch and I’ve got to respect that, but other than that it’s a breeze.”
Paul has also used his larger size to his advantage in these bouts: While Paul has fought at cruiserweight or at least a catchweight above the light heavyweight limit of 175 pounds in boxing, all of his previous UFC opponents have been welterweight (170 pounds) and middleweight (185 pounds) fighters at the UFC, although Silva has fought a few bouts at 205 pounds.
Perry, like his past opponents, has fought at welterweight in UFC and at 175 and 185 pounds in BKFC. Though he’s small at 185 pounds, his build is perfectly adapted to the world of hand-to-hand combat.
“I’m doing it for everyone, I’m doing it for myself, I’m doing it for the fans, I’m doing it for BKFC, I’m doing it for MMA, but mostly I’m doing it for myself because I believe in myself and my boxing abilities,” Perry said. “I’m a boxing expert who likes to fight, so I’m ready to get in the ring with Jake and have some fun.”
Paul has every physical advantage coming into this fight, being three inches taller, with a five-inch longer reach and a significant weight advantage in this 200-pound bout. The weight factor is exaggerated in this fight, considering Paul had bulked up to more than 200 pounds for his heavyweight bout with Tyson. The fight was postponed when the 58-year-old Tyson suffered a recurrence of an ulcer, forcing Paul to scramble to find a replacement opponent to keep the July 20 date intact.
The undercard for the crossover boxing event is typical, featuring former and current champions, as well as former UFC fighters looking to move up the ranks. Women’s featherweight champion Amanda Serrano will face Stevie Morgan in the main bout. Serrano was also expected to feature in a rematch with two-division champion Katie Taylor on the Tyson card. But with the postponement, Serrano was hoping to fight and stay active by November, especially since her March bout was canceled on the day of the fight.
Paul decided to take a risk against Perry, who brings an aggression he’s never seen in his boxing career, and now he must navigate a sea of hyper-aggressive opponents who have developed an ability to sniff out big fights in recent years.
Paul vs. Perry fight odds
- Jake Paul -425 vs. Mike Perry +300, cruiserweight
- Amanda Serrano -4000 vs. Stevie Morgan +1500, junior welterweight
- Ashton Silve -295 vs. Lucas Badi +225, lightweight
- Shadasia Green -2500 vs. Natasha Spence +1100, super middleweight
- Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. -280 vs. Urijah Hall +215, cruiserweight
prediction
Perry is certainly a dangerous opponent, but let’s not forget that Paul and his team were very careful in choosing their opponents. There are obvious reasons why Paul felt that Perry was a good opponent for the Tyson fight. It could be the difference in size, or maybe it was because he saw Perry’s reckless face-first fighting style and thought he could easily crush and defeat him with a powerful right. Either way, Paul was not going to take even the smallest risk of losing the fight against Tyson by fighting someone he was scared to fight.
Perry’s power is a bit overstated at this point. None of the final 10 fights of his MMA career were stoppages for Perry. Perry has three consecutive TKO wins in BKFC, but those were the result of significant damage to his face, primarily from bare-handed punches. In his most recent fight, Perry knocked down 40-year-old Thiago Alves nearly a minute into the first round, and although Alves was able to evade the count, the bout was stopped when the referee deemed him unfit to continue.
It will be difficult for Perry to win by stoppage against a bigger guy with much bigger gloves. And Perry’s style is one where he takes as many hits as he hits his opponents, if not more. It’s not hard to imagine Paul winning by decision, especially considering that the boxing gloves will soften Perry’s power and allow Paul to block the punches that Perry has landed with his bare hands and in MMA. Rather than a decision win, I expect Paul to find a good spot to land a big punch as Perry tries to charge in and attack, and win by stoppage. Pick: Jake Paul via TKO6
Who will win Jake Paul vs. Mike Perry? And what props should you bet on? Visit SportsLine now to see the best bets for Saturday from CBS combat sports specialist Brandon Wise. Wise has Jake Paul’s first-round KO of Ryan Borland coming in as a standout +200 favorite.
