Jake Paul finally got to come face to face with Gervonta Davis in a bizarre first face-off tonight in New York City.
Within moments of the press conference kicking off, Paul branded ‘Tank’ as ‘stupid as f—‘, but it seemed his rival needed some time to take the bait.
A sizeable crowd of boxing fans packed into the Palladium Theater in Times Square to watch the historic meeting between lightweight champion Davis and career-cruiserweight Paul. It launched promotion for a November 14 exhibition fight which takes place at the Kaseya Center in Florida.
Jake Paul and Gervonta Davis share heated first face-off ahead of Netflix grudge fight
From before they had even officially started taking questions, Jake Paul and Gervonta Davis began going at each other verbally. The Baltimore native insisted that the fight will do large numbers, as they look to outscore the 41million that tuned in to Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford on Netflix this month.
Paul joked that Davis ‘can’t read’ like his former promoter Floyd Mayweather, as well as noting that he would need to hit below his knees. ‘Tank’ then threatened both his opponent and his coach J’Leon Love as the exchange began to get heated after a tame kick-off.
The social media star declared himself Davis’ ‘karmic retribution’, before jokingly declaring that he will be fighting with an ankle monitor on. Paul then invited ‘clowns’ on stage, before invoking his rival’s history of legal issues.
When the pair did face-off, it only got physical when the pair touched each other on the shoulder to truly size one another up. They looked comically mismatched, with the 6’2″ Paul towering over 5’5″ Davis.
Jake Paul vs Gervonta Davis rules confirmed for Netflix showdown
Before the press conference fully began, Most Valuable Promotions boss Nakisa Bidarian came on stage to confirm the rules for the bout. There had been speculation that it would be an unscored exhibition similar to Logan Paul vs Floyd Mayweather, but that was put to bed by the former UFC CFO.
Despite the fact that the bout is an exhibition, Bidarian confirmed that there will be a definitive winner, decided by three judges if needed. The three judges will be commission approved and world championship level, and will score on a 10-point must system over ten rounds of three minutes.
The fighters will wear 12oz gloves and are both pursuing a knockout. Paul has a maximum weight limit of 195lb, although a massive discrepancy is expected. Davis’ career-highest weight is 139.5lb, while Paul will have weighed 227lb within a year of their fight having taken place.
Davis is a top pound-for-pound boxer and Paul is keen to continue growing his stock within the sport by landing the biggest victory of his career.
