Jake Paul has pulled no punches towards Top Rank founder and CEO Bob Arum after his shock comments on the mega-fight between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano.
Undisputed lightweight champion Taylor, 35, will defend her titles against seven-weight champion Amanda Serrano, 33, on 30th April.
And the Taylor vs Serrano clash, which is co-promoted by Eddie Hearn and Paul, will be the first female boxing fight to headline Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Arum, meanwhile, is planning to hold a super-featherweight unification bout between Shakur Stevenson and Oscar Valdez on 30th April in Las Vegas.
Despite Taylor vs Serrano taking place at the iconic New York venue on the same day as Stevenson and Valdez’s clash, Arum took a swipe at women’s boxing.
Tyson Fury’s co-promoter claimed that fans don’t “particularly pay attention to the women fights” and staunchly defended himself against being anti-women in sports.
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“As good a fight as that is, come on, whatever reason it is, people don’t particularly pay attention to the women fights,” Arum told iFL TV.
“The answer is ESPN made the schedule and they couldn’t care less.
“I don’t wanna denigrate fights, I don’t wanna be accused of being anti-women in sports, but I’m telling you, this is like the Premier League against women’s football.”
Paul, who signed Serrano to his Most Valuable Promotions in 2021, took to Twitter to slam the 90-year-old boxing promoter for his remarks on women’s boxing.
“Men like this dinosaur are the reason women haven’t been given a fair shake in many parts of society,” he tweeted.
“I feel sorry for Mikaela Mayer [who is promoted by Arum] -- she deserves better.
“And he says ESPN doesn’t care about the biggest women’s boxing event in history? [Taylor vs Serrano] will make history with or without you.”
Hearn, who is Taylor’s promoter, echoed his support for Paul’s response on Twitter and ex-cruiserweight champ Tony Bellew also praised the YouTuber-turned-boxer.
Serrano also took to social media and hit out at Arum by claiming that women will “no longer be silenced.”
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Responding to Paul’s tweet, she said: “Yes Jake! Women will no longer be silenced by grumpy old men.”
Paul, 25, claimed that both Taylor and Serrano “deserve this stage” and “deserve this historic payday” from their super-fight.
“They deserve this stage, they deserve this historic payday and they deserve to settle who is the pound-for-pound best,” he said.
The American star added: “Women have been boxing since the early 1900s but it wasn't until 1999 that they were able to compete professionally.
“Twenty-three years later, here we are with one of the biggest fights ever, headlined by two women at Madison Square Garden.”
Adnan Riaz