CRUISERWEIGHT world champion Badou Jack could cash out on his legendary career with a fight against Jake Paul.
But YouTuber-turned-boxer Paul has been warned his dream title shot could come at the risk of a nightmare early retirement.
Paul called out WBC champ Jack after beating Julio Cesar Chavez Jr in June – with talks between the two camps taking place behind the scenes.
The American’s promotional partner Nakisa Bidarian reached out to Jack’s adviser Amer Abdallah after the ten-round decision win over Chavez.
But Paul will instead face lightweight superstar Gervonta Davis in a June 14 exhibition bout – which will not count towards their records amid the FIVE STONE difference.
Jack has also been ordered by the WBC into a rematch with Noel Mikaelian after his majority-decision win in May – with the sequel set for December 13.
But with the 41-year-old Swede entering the final stages of his career – manager Abdallah warned not to rule out a cash-grab sendoff against Paul in the future.
He said in Manila ahead of the IBA’s fight card: “It’s great money for him at this stage of his career.
“Badou has one or two fights left, that’s it. And I had a conversation with some other fighters in the division. They’re like, ‘How can you say that?’
“What do you mean, how can I say it? Somebody do what Badou’s done in that division.
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“Somebody in that cruiserweight division become a three-division world champion, fight the level of guys that Badou has fought.
“He’s in his 40s. He’s got one or two fights left regardless of who he is. So let him cash out.
“And if Jake Paul is the guy, he’s gonna make more money with Jake Paul than all those guys combined.”
Paul, 28, received a controversial No14 cruiserweight rating after beating Chavez, 39, who once held the middleweight world title.
But he was not ranked by the WBC – who state any contender must be within the top 15 to be eligible for a title shot.
So Abdallah said: “When Nakisa called me for the fight – and he did call me for the fight – and they were talking about it and Jake really wanted it.
“I said, look, you’ve got a couple of hurdles right now before you even get in the ring with Badou Jack.
“He’s gotta get ranked – you don’t get just a title shot because you’re Jake Paul. You have to have a conversation with the WBC and Mauricio’s gotta rank you.”
Two of Paul’s trainers – J’Leon Love and Larry Wade – grew up in the sport having worked alongside former super-middleweight and light-heavyweight champ Jack.
And Abdallah said: “I love Jake Paul, I love what he’s doing for the sport, I love his team. I love Nakisa, I love his whole thing.
I wouldn’t rule it out. I would love every second of that fight. I just think it’s a bad move for Jake.
Badou Jack’s adviser Amer Abdallah
“But Jake is a content creator, that’s just what he does, that’s how he builds his career so he knows what names to call.
“If you ask J’Leon Love, if you ask Larry Wade, if you ask Third Chambers – and I love those three guys – if you ask them should Jake Paul fight Badou Jack the answer is unequivocally f*** no!
“Badou Jack destroys Jake Paul.”
Despite Abdallah’s scepticism behind Paul’s repeat callouts of Jack – he hopes the fight can happen – but warned it could be career-ending.
He said: “I wouldn’t rule it out. I would love every second of that fight. I just think it’s a bad move for Jake.
“If Jake Paul fights Badou Jack, that’s the champion in his weight class, at an age that he should be able to get beat, but Jake gets iced.
“And if that happens, that ends the whole Jake Paul run. Then he’d have to go back to the Tank Davis, the Mike Tysons, the Nate Diaz and Anderson Silvas.
“He’d have to go that route because once he loses to Badou Jack – who is the lowest hanging fruit in his estimation in the cruiserweight division – where do you go from there?
“You just lost to the guy who you’ve been trying to achieve that accolade of being a world champion and you couldn’t do it.
“I think that would end the Jake Paul fight and I think they’re aware of that and that’s why the fight won’t happen.”
