Netflix Is Serving Us Jake Paul vs. Gervonta Tank Davis, Whether Boxing Likes It or Not

Jake Paul’s next opponent is a real boxer — and a world champion. Gervonta “Tank” Davis will face the YouTuber-turned-boxer in Atlanta on Nov. 15, according to The Ring Magazine's Mike Coppinger. Davis is a world champion at 135 pounds. Paul’s last fight was at 200 pounds.

It goes without saying that this spectacle broadcast on Netflix will be an exhibition bout. Coppinger compared this fight to when Jake’s brother, Logan Paul, faced Floyd Mayweather in an exhibition in 2021. Mayweather could not weigh more than 160 pounds, and Logan could not weigh more than 190. This fight is likely to have some of those same exhibition rules with much larger gloves.

Paul’s rumored fight with Anthony Joshua fell apart because of broadcast issues. According to BoxingScene's Lance Pugmire, Paul's team's push to fight Joshua was denied by one major state with another state frowning on the matchup. Meanwhile, Davis was scheduled to rematch Lamont Roach to defend his championship belt. Both of those fights are now on hold for this showdown that will do big business but mean very little in terms of the actual sport.

These athletes have a 65-pound difference. Even with exhibition weight rules, we are going to learn absolutely nothing from this fight, which will undoubtedly be watched by millions.

Paul maintains that he is on a conquest to become a world champion boxer. Technically, he is fighting a world champion in Davis. But facing Joshua would have been the fight that made boxing fans excited about his prospects as a legitimate contender. Instead, we are left with more exhibition fights, albeit against an opponent 30 years younger than the legendary Mike Tyson, whom Paul defeated in 2024 on Netflix.

To Paul’s credit, he has tried his hand against actual boxers. He defeated Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., Ryan Bourland and Andre August — all boxers by trade. Mike Perry also fell to Paul, though his experience outside of the UFC has been in bare-knuckle boxing.

Nobody is upset at Paul making the biggest fights imaginable. Every time he steps in the ring, it is a major draw. A fight against fellow YouTuber KSI would do major numbers and feels inevitable, even though that does not get Paul any closer to being an actual world champion. But that is not what this is all about. And it never has been.

Early viral knockouts against Tyron Woodley, Nate Robinson and Ben Askren proved that an amateur boxer could reshape the sport, setting records and earning generational cash along the way. Paul vs. Davis will be great entertainment, but not much more than that.