Jake Paul was called an ‘absolute f***ing Muppet’ after Tony Bellew claimed to have ‘upped the game of boxing’.
The YouTuber-turned-boxer is 5-0 in his career and won three fights in 2021.
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Listing his goals for this year on Twitter, Paul included: “Go 2 Chiropractor 2 is back from pursuing the sport of boxing.”
But former world champion Belew took aim in a social media post after he slammed the American for failing to fight a professional boxer.
Belew, 39, told DAZN: “First of all, I don’t have any hatred or malice towards Jake Paul, crack it, do what you’re doing, it’s great.
“But in no way shape or form can you claim to have fully advanced my game, he hasn’t fought a boxer yet.
“So how can you claim to advance this game when you haven’t fought someone who comes from my sport, that’s unbelievable!
“I don’t like that it’s labeled a boxing match because he’s not facing a boxer.”
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Tommy Fury, 22, with prior pro boxing experience was set to be Paul’s first opponent.
But Fury was forced to walk out with a broken rib and a bacterial chest infection, with Tyrone Woodley serving as his replacement.
Paul, 24, had beaten Woodley, 39, on points only four months earlier, but knocked out the ex-UFC champion in round six of their rematch.
It added KO’s over YouTuber ‘AnEsonGib’, ex-NBA player Nate Robinson, 37, and retired UFC welterweight Ben Askren, 37.
But with none of them being a boxer, Bellev urged Paul to fight UFC legend Anderson Silva, 46, who has at least a 2-1 record in the ring.
He added: “If he really wants to fight a boxer, I can tell you he can face Anderson Silva.
“Anderson Silva is an MMA guy, so he is not a traditional boxer, but he has beaten a boxer and he has not beaten any boxer, he has defeated former world champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
“Face someone like him we can hear you talking about being a boxer, but unless you’ve encountered a boxer, you can’t say you’re a boxer and the last thing What you need to do is you’re upping my game.”
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