JAKE PAUL could make his boxing return on CHRISTMAS EVE – with Darren Till among the names in talks to fight.
The YouTuber-turned-boxer after suffering a broken jaw against last December.
But is hoping for a more Merry Christmas this year with talks ongoing for his return to land on December 24.
Dubai is a potential location with Nakisa Bidarian – who co-founded Most Valuable Promotions with Paul in 2021 – leading talks with opponents and broadcasters.
Hosting an event during the festive period has been on MVP’s radar with Bidarian believing there is a gap for live entertainment between turkey and presents.
He told SunSport ahead of MVPW 7 on November 8: “It’s a moment where everyone is at home.
“Everyone is kind of focused on their family and some food and they’re usually watching some s****y reruns or some second-tier sports product if it’s on.
“So it’s a great window. And same for your point around Christmas Eve: Amazon for the first time has a Christmas Eve NFL game this year.
“Because it’s a captive audience with not much else going on.
“The whole game is can you capture the attention of the consumer to actually watch your content, and so the more competition there is for their attention, the worse off you are.
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All eyes are focused on the ‘Battle of Britain’ between and , with the pair set to finally settle their decade-long rivalry in December.
But before that, returns against Christian Mbili on Halloween.
October
- Sat 31 – Canelo Alvarez vs Christian Mbili – DAZN
November
- Sat 7 – Joshua Buatsi vs Willy Hutchinson 2 – DAZN
- Sat 7 – Chris Billam-Smith vs Cheavon Clarke – Sky Sports
- Sat 28 – Agit Kabayel vs Nelson Hysa – DAZN
December
- Fri 11 – Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua – Netflix
- Sat 12 – Dmitry Bivol vs Callum Smith – DAZN
- Sat 19 – Anthony Cacace vs Nick Ball – DAZN
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“That’s just unless you’re a hardcore fan or unless you have a massive mega-event like the Super Bowl. So yeah, I like those dates.
“I’ve never thought of those dates as being negative; I see them as big positives.
“Christmas Day is busy, in the US anyways, as it’s the NBA and the NFL going back-to-back-to-back.
“So I think Christmas Eve is better than Christmas Day at the moment.”
Bidarian has stated four opponents were in talks to fight Paul, 29, with ex-UFC star Till, 33, one of them.
Former opponent Tommy Fury, 27, is not.
Till left the UFC in 2023 to pursue a deal with Misfits Boxing – home to celebrity-style crossover bouts – where he won all three of his bouts.
He has since campaigned in Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship – beating former Geordie Shore star Aaron Chalmers and UFC rival Yoel Romero.
He said: “Darren Till is definitely one of the names that Jake put out there on his list and is definitely one of the names that we’ve been speaking to.
“The date and time and location depends on how quickly I can get the opponent done and the distribution of the fight appropriately figured out based on that opponent.
“So, if it takes another three, four, five weeks to figure this out, there’s no fighting this year; it’s probably early next year.
“If we figure it out in the next 24 hours, we’ll hopefully get a fight in this year.
“But I can’t tell you today if it’s one or the other. But we’re trying our best to get it done.”
