
Amanda Westcott / Most Valuable Promotions(UPDATE: On Monday evening, Most Valuable Promotions announced that Jake Paul vs. Gervonta Davis has been canceled. Our original story on a potential replacement opponent is below.)
From a lightweight champion to a heavyweight?
Jake Paul is moving away from plans to fight unbeaten WBA lightweight titleholder Gervonta "Tank" Davis on November 14, and his exploration for a new foe intensified Monday with the targeting of a heavyweight.
Paul, the WBA’s 14th-ranked cruiserweight, sought to fight the unbeaten Davis as an exhibition aimed at maximizing the social popularity of YouTuber Paul and Baltimore’s hardened Davis.
But Davis’ latest allegation of domestic violence, which triggered a lawsuit last week in Miami, cooled both Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions and Netflix from participating in the event.
As promoter of several prominent women fighters, including multi-division champion Amanda Serrano, MVP said it “unequivocally condemns any form of violence” and vowed to review the situation in a formal statement Sunday.
The promotion reached out to several fighters, including Ryan Garcia, Terence Crawford and others, according to reports, and the search Monday turned toward an unnamed heavyweight, said an official who spoke to BoxingScene on the condition of anonymity because they are unauthorized to speak publicly on the matter.
It’s unclear how far along the negotiations are with that fighter, but the speculation is that the timing to scrap Davis as the opponent is imminent, two other boxing officials told BoxingScene Monday. This news was previously reported by Mike Coppinger of The Ring, who also said the event could be moved to December.

Lance Pugmire has been a full-time boxing writer for nearly 20 years, serving now as BoxingScene’s U.S. Senior Writer and assistant producer for ProBoxTV’s “BoxingScene Today.” Pugmire capped a near 20-year career at the Los Angeles Times (sports investigations, NHL/MLB beat work, law enforcement/courts and boxing/UFC) to join The Athletic, and then USA Today. Pugmire’s stint at The Times started with the first Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez fight and the Oscar De La Hoya-Floyd Mayweather Jnr then-record pay-per-view, leading through a slew of ringside assignments at major bouts, including Mayweather-Pacquiao, Mayweather-Canelo and the Canelo-Golovkin trilogy. Lance’s appreciation for boxing is rooted in his admiration and appreciation for the fighters, gladiators who have proven to be the most forthcoming and candid of all the athletes he has interviewed over a career dating to 1990. Lance was honored to be named the 2022 winner of the Boxing Writers Association of America Nat Fleischer Award for career excellence and he’s collected many BWAA writing awards in categories ranging from breaking news to deep-dive long features.