GLENDALE, Arizona – Jake Paul helped put together one of the biggest fights in women’s boxing during his short time as a promoter.

Amanda Serrano, whom Paul’s company promotes, and Katie Taylor each earned seven-figure purses for what was one of the most fan-friendly fights of 2022. Paul can’t understand why many of the sport’s most accomplished, popular fighters don’t follow their lead.

Paul, who will square off against Anderson Silva on Saturday night, expressed concern after a press conference Thursday for the future of the sport if such high-profile fights as Terence Crawford-Errol Spence Jr., Tyson Fury-Anthony Joshua and Gervonta Davis-Ryan Garcia aren’t put together in the near future.

“It sucks for the fans,” Paul told a small group of reporters. “The fans are the ones that get hurt. And it’s bad. This is why the sport has gone to bad places before. It’s gone to scary moments where you think the sport’s gonna wind up dying out, because big fights like this aren’t happening. Why didn’t we get Fury-Joshua? There’s so many instances where big fights could be made, and they’re just not.

“I don’t know what it is. No one will ever know, and that’s what’s frustrating. People just say, ‘It was him. It was them. It was this. It was that promoter. It was the rights.’ And you never actually know the truth. That’s why I commend the UFC, actually, getting those big fights to happen and making those mandatory fights. That’s why they have so much respect.”

Paul, of Westlake, Ohio, completely understands that he isn’t on the level of the aforementioned fighters from a skills standpoint. The popular influencer just wishes they would take the type of risks like he feels he has embraced versus Silva (3-1, 2 KOs), a legendary UFC fighter who is much older, yet much more experienced in combat sports than Paul (5-0, 4 KOs).

“Get these fights done,” Paul stated during the press conference. “Stop shooting yourself in the foot. Stop being greedy. Give people what they want. Don’t look at every term in the contract and try to change it. Just f------ fight. You spar every day. Why not get paid f------ tens of millions of dollars to do it in front of people? They’re very scared to risk their undefeated records, but boxing needs these big fights. Don’t let your manager stop you. Don’t let your promoter stop you. You gotta be in control.”

Paul, 25, and Brazil’s Silva, 47, will headline a five-fight Showtime Pay-Per-View telecast from Desert Diamond Arena (9 p.m. ET; $59.99). Caesars Sportsbook listed Paul as a 2-1 favorite Friday to win their eight-round cruiserweight bout.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.