Paul Vs. Perry? ‘I Think It Happens’

Jake Paul’s team sent Mike Perry a contract to fight in mid-February, but have now left “Platinum” hanging. He’s still confident the bout will come together, though.

“Platinum” Mike Perry is still waiting for a phone call letting him know that Jake Paul has signed a contract to fight him. He’s been waiting a few weeks now, ever since Paul’s camp allegedly sent him the paperwork to fight on Feb. 18, 2023. But, with few other decent options seemingly available for Paul, Perry is confident the fight will come together.

On Jan. 3, 2023, Perry posted screenshots on social media of a contract he said came from Team Paul. “I signed a contract to fight Jake Paul but he changed his mind,” Perry wrote on Twitter. In a new interview with MMA Fighting, the former UFC fighter-turned boxer explained the circumstances behind the offer and subsequent ghosting.

“I believe it was for mid-February,” Perry said. “I don’t know what I can and can’t say, [because] I want it to happen. But, there was supposed to be a really cool location and that intrigued me. I think it happens.

“If it is mid-February, I’ll be ready,” he continued. “I’m ready this weekend. I’m going to keep working, road work, lift some weights, eat healthy, just keep feeding myself and stay hungry. That’s me. That’s what I do.”

Perry went on to say he received his copy of the contract in Dec. 2022 and sent it back signed. Unfortunately, it’s become something of a Influencer boxing trend to spam-out contracts and then cherry pick the best opponent who signs up.

KSI recently did it with Tyron Woodley … and Jake Paul could very well be doing it with “Platinum.”

“People are still in the comments think I faked the contract,” Perry told MMA Fighting. “What? Did I type that up? You think I typed that up? Come on, man, I can’t type that up. It’s ridiculous. People will see it with their own eyes and still be in disbelief. It’s not like it matters.

“Jake’s got five pro boxing fights, if you could call them all pro boxing fights,” Perry continued. “He’s gotten a lot better since he’s been competing, he’s training all the time. I sparred him once, and I think it would be a great boxing match. I can’t lie, I’m a bare knuckle boxer, and I like to punch without anything. But with the gloves on I feel like I hit harder, and I think it would be interesting to see what I could do.”

It’s been 10 days since Perry called out Paul for pumping the brakes on a potential fight, but there hasn’t been any movement or further communication.

“As far as I know, it’s the same as it was,” Perry said. “Not much has really changed, and we’re in the same position as we were in a few days ago.”

Paul has expressed some disappointment with the numbers from his past couple of pay-per-view (PPV) fights against former UFC fighters, so it’s possible he’s looking for an opponent with a different promotional angle to exploit. But, as we said, there’s not a lot of great options. If Nate Diaz is considering Paul’s two-fight offer to box and then rematch in Professional Fighters League (PFL) under mixed martial arts (MMA) rules, he’s doing a very good job of hiding his interest. And Tommy Fury has proven to be an extremely unreliable business partner.

Are you interested in seeing Jake Paul fight Mike Perry, Maniacs?