Boxing’s most polarizing act will return to the ring this spring.
Jake Paul will fight April 17 against an opponent to be determined, it was announced Wednesday. Paul, the YouTube star and social-media supernova, has signed with Fight Club, the new boxing promotion launched by the team behind the social-networking app Triller and rapper and media personality, Snoop Dogg. Paul will headline the event, which does not yet have a location.
Per a release, in addition to Paul the card will have “three major undercard” fights and will “spotlight several prominent musical acts and commentators.”
“Hate me or love me, you can’t stop me,” Paul said in a statement via the release. “April 17, I headline a global PPV event and I am getting my third knockout in a row. I look to prove to the world that I am and I will remain one of the biggest names in this sport.”
Paul, 24, was in the co-main event of Triller’s first foray into boxing back in November, knocking out former NBA star Nate Robinson in devastating fashion. Mike Tyson fought Roy Jones Jr. in an exhibition match in the main event of that card, which was a major pay-per-view success. Paul is 2-0 as a pro boxer with a knockout of fellow YouTuber AnEsonGib in his debut in January 2020. This will be the first time that Paul is in the headlining spot.
“Our efforts for the Tyson vs. Jones event proved that Triller is capable of hosting high-quality, culture changing sporting events,” Triller founder Ryan Kavanaugh said in a statement. “Jake Paul was the breakout athlete of the night, and we listened to the more than 30 million fans that have expressed interest in watching him fight again.”