When news broke that Jake Paul’s scheduled fight against Gervonta “Tank” Davis was cancelled, it quickly came out that Paul was trying to pivot to several other massive names in the sport so that he could still headline a Netflix card by the end of 2025.
The names that Paul reportedly reached out to were Ryan Garcia, Francis Ngannou, Terence Crawford, and Francis Ngannou. Both Garcia (albeit by his manager, Oscar De La Hoya) and Francis Ngannou publicly declined this fight offer.
There was no clear response from Crawford’s camp when it was announced that Anthony Joshua had accepted the fight and would face Paul on December 19 in Miami, Florida.
It would have been hard to blame Crawford for declining the fight against Paul, if only because he’s less than three months removed from his massive upset victory over Canelo Alvarez on September 13, which resulted in Crawford taking Canelo’s undisputed super middleweight belts.
But Crawford didn’t decline.
IMAGO / Hoganphotos
Jake Paul revealed as much during his November 21 press conference for the Anthony Joshua fight, saying, “Terence Crawford said yes, but wanted to do it later next year. I was like, ‘Let’s get a fight in right now.’
Nakisa Bidarian Confirms Jake Paul vs. Terence Crawford Target Timeline
While there still hasn’t been any confirmation of this from Crawford or his camp, it’s hard to see why Paul would be lying about these conversations with his team. And Paul’s advisor and business partner, Nakisa Bidarian, took this sentiment a step further during his appearance on a November 24 episode of The Ariel Helwani Show.
“Look, [Terence Crawford’s camp] was very interested. They said, ‘We want to do this.’ I think the timing didn’t allow for us to get to an understanding and a structure that made sense for all parties,” Bidarian said, per an X post from Uncrowned.
“But it’s something that we’d like to pursue in 2026, for sure,” he added.
“[Jake Paul vs. Terence Crawford] is something we’d like to pursue in 2026, for sure.”
Nakisa says Jake-Bud didn’t work out due to timing but it’s still possible in the future 😳 #HelwaniShow pic.twitter.com/KRGddt1Tdk
— Uncrowned (@uncrownedcombat) November 24, 2025
The fact that Paul and Crawford would actually be fighting at some point in 2026 is insane. And one can’t fault Crawford for desiring this fight, given that it would be one of the biggest paydays of his life while arguably being his easiest bout yet.
Crawford is 38 years old, has already accomplished it all in the sport, and has nothing left to prove to anybody. So who can fault him for chasing a bag against Paul at some point next year?
The Latest Boxing News
Eddie Hearn Reveals Lie That Led to Jake Paul Accepting Anthony Joshua Fight
Dana White Blasted For ‘Blatant Lie’ About Jake Paul vs Anthony Joshua Fight
Ryan Garcia Reveals Only Way Jake Paul Can Beat Anthony Joshua
Oleksandr Usyk’s Manager Reveals Reason For Vacating Heavyweight Title