Darren Till is irate that he didn’t get the Jake Paul fight.
After loads of speculation and even alleged confirmation from Most Valuable Promotions CEO Nakisa Bidarian that he was in the running to be Paul’s next opponent, Till unloaded after being passed over for the fight in an interview with Ariel Helwani.
“We agreed on a price and obviously it was going to be in Dubai on the 24th of December, where I live,” Till said. “I’ve been in camp for the past two weeks with my coach; I flew him out. Getting ready seven weeks away… Out of nowhere, this fight gets announced; this daft fight gets announced with Cédric Doumbé.”
Doumbé and Paul are scheduled to fight on Christmas Eve in Dubai at cruiserweight (200 pounds), though Doumbé, who hasn’t boxed since 2015 but is a decorated kickboxer, last fought 30 months ago at 175 pounds.
“I don’t think anyone outside of his own house knows who he is,” Till explained. “Jake probably just wants to see how his jaw is against someone who weighs 150 pounds on a good day. It’s a fraudulent showing. Everyone is a fraud. Jake’s a fraud. Nakisa is a little fraud. Waste of my time. Couldn’t give a f–k. If you want to fight me next year, fight me next year. So I just wasted about 5,000 pounds getting my coach out here, but it’s all good.”
Doumbé is 5-foot-8 with a 73-inch reach, while Paul measures 6-foot-1 with a 76-inch reach.
“Cédric Doumbé weighs 170 pounds,” Till explained. “Jake Paul’s 220 pounds. Are we all just going to buy into this fight because he’s clever at marketing and stuff like that… What kind of fight is this? It’s a f–king farce so the stupid promotion can make a hundred million. Same as [Floyd] Mayweather fighting [Manny] Pacquiao later in his career.”
Paul weighed 227 pounds when he fought Mike Tyson in Nov. 2024, while the smallest he has fought at was 185 pounds against Nate Diaz in Aug. 2023.
Paul enters his Christmas Eve bout with Doumbé 12-2 after he was TKO’d by Anthony Joshua last year.
