Tony Bellew tells Jake Paul to prove he’s a boxer by fighting ex-UFC star

Bellew has ripped into Paul once again for his short career in boxing, and has proposed that he faces former UFC star Anderson Silva in the boxing ring next

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Tony Bellew has called for Jake Paul to face UFC legend Anderson Silva next if he wants to prove that he is a “real boxer”.

The YouTube star had a successful 2021 defeating former UFC stars Ben Askren and Tyron Woodley while earning over £30million.

Paul released his goals for this year on social media which Bellew quickly leapt to criticise claiming that he couldn’t “carry the jockstrap” of a real boxer.

Bellew has now continued his scathing assessment of Paul’s short boxing career so far and has pointed out his continued lack of opponent from a natural boxing background.

“First of all, I’ve got no hate or malice towards Jake Paul, crack on, do what you’re doing, it’s great,” Bellew said on the DAZN Boxing Show.

“But in no way shape or form can you claim to carry my sport you absolute f****** muppet, he hasn’t even fought a boxer yet.

“So how can you claim to be carrying the sport when you haven’t fought someone who comes from my sport, it’s unbelievable! I don’t like the fact it’s labelled a boxing match because he’s not facing a boxer.

“If he really wants to fight a boxer, I can tell you someone he can face, Anderson Silva. Anderson Silva is an MMA guy, so he’s not a traditional boxer, but, he has beaten a boxer and he hasn’t just beaten any boxer, he’s beaten the former world champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

“Face someone like him then we can listen to you talk about being a boxer, but until you face a boxer you can’t state that you’re a boxer and last thing you need to do is say you’re carrying my sport.”

Bellew joins a list of public critics of Paul’s career including UFC president Dana White and Claressa Shields.

Paul is looking for new challenges next year and has beckoned White in to allowing Conor McGregor and Jorge Masvidal to compete in the boxing ring.

Who wins if the pair fight in the boxing ring – Jake Paul or Anderson Silva? Let us know in the comments section below

The 24-year-old is also exploring the opportunity of a boxing bout with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr or could even reschedule his previous planned bout with Tommy Fury.

However Silva could be a realistic option having made his own remarkable journey in the boxing ring defeating Chavez Jr and Tito Ortiz in the ring.

Paul has admitted that he would explore the option of a bout with Silva but wants extensive checks undertaken so a repeat of Evander Holyfield’s disastrous return can be avoided.

“I think it would be a huge fight so sure, he’s a legend of the sport, great head movement, great striking. For me I would love it, I have nothing but respect for Anderson,” he told The MMA Hour.

However, there is the side of it that’s like. He’s 46 or 47 years old, so I would want him to go through lots of testing to make sure that’s he’s actually good to get into the ring.

“I wouldn’t want some s*** that just happened with like Vitor and Holyfield. He’s like 22 or 23 years older than me.”