Featured Image Credit: The Ariel Helwani Show
Topics: Jake Paul, Ariel Helwani, Anthony Joshua, Boxing
Nasir Jabbar
Topics: Jake Paul, Ariel Helwani, Anthony Joshua, Boxing
Ariel Helwani has hit out at Jake Paul's social media stunt and revealed why it doesn't sit well with him.
Paul returns to action next Friday when he faces Anthony Joshua in a blockbuster fight.
The professional bout will air on Netflix and takes places at Miami's Kaseya Center.
Paul vs. Joshua will serve as the headline act while Alycia Baumgardner defends her super-featherweight world titles against Leila Beaudoin in the co-main event.
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Elsewhere on the card, UFC legends Anderson Silva and Tyron Woodley face each other in the ring and Cherneka Johnson takes on Amanda Galle.
Caroline Dubois, who is the youngster sister of Daniel Dubois, is also in action as she makes her promotional debut after signing with Most Valuable Promotions.
Paul announced the signing of Dubois on his social media channels as he teased an announcement before Monday's reveal.
"9AM EST Tuesday. Major update. Had to be done. It is what it is," he wrote.
Paul then posted an announcement video of Dubois in a social media skit.
But Helwani didn't take kindly to the 28-year-old teasing an announcement as fans and critics alike speculated whether the December 19 fight was in danger of collapsing.
Veteran combat sports reporter Helwani believes Team Paul should have announced the signing of Dubois when he took to social media to tease an announcement and reckons he played into the hands of people who claim his fights are fixed.
Speaking on Tuesday's episode of The Ariel Helwani Show, he said: "I wanted to say one quick thing about the announcement I saw yesterday. Everyone was hitting me up, 'what's this, what's this, what's this, what's this?'
"The tweet was some sort of tease. 'Here it is, 9:00 am. eastern Tuesday, major update had to be done. It is what it is'. And so the play here is the fight is off and that's what people are asking me about... texting about. We were texting about it. People hitting me up.
"That's the play here right," he added. "That's what they're wanting you to think... a bit of a code red, 'oh my god, the fight is off'. And then even when he made the announcement, it was something to the effect of, 'like you dummies thought I was going to pull out of the fight. Ridiculous. I'm just five years in creating a roster of the best. Welcome to MVP, Miss Caroline Dubois' and the video they put out, 'Hey, let's train with (Daniel) Dubois'. You know, Dubois beat Joshua, playing up on Dubois and all that stuff.
"And then, of course, they call up Caroline and say, 'you've now joined the team. You're a part of the team. We're lucky to have you. We're happy to have you'. It's great social media.
"The one issue I have is... is with the bait and switch at the top. I don't like the bait and switch at the top. I don't like the first initial tweet. You're in the business right now of getting people to believe in you. You're in the business of getting people to believe that everything you do is legit. I believe it, we defend it, we talk about it.
"But there are others who don't, let's not kid ourselves. So, to be in the business of trying to get people to believe that everything you are doing is on the up and up, which i do believe 100 per cent is, and then doing stuff like that, it just it doesn't help your cause."
Helwani continued: "And so look, far be it for me to tell them how to market, to tell them how to tweet, to tell them how to promote, but that's not the way I would go about doing things. You want to be honest. you want to be the honest brokers. You don't want to be the bait and switchers. What is the constant theme attached to all these fights? Is it real? Is it not? Is it scripted? Is it a fake fight? Is it a work? Is it a shoot?
"And now you're in the business of leading people astray and then be like, 'no, of course I wasn't gonna pull out, guys, we're just talking about this announcement'. Just say tomorrow we have a big announcement or guess what? Just announce the news. No need for the announcement for the announcement. No one's sitting there on Twitter, scrolling around and refreshing at 9:00am. Anyways, just drop the news. That's it."