Jake Paul Names Terence Crawford Among Top Targets for Fight, Responds to Ngannou

Jake Paul has his sights set on a future matchup with Terence Crawford following his upcoming fight with Anthony Joshua.

"It was very close to being Crawford instead of Joshua," Paul said, according to ESPN's Andreas Hale. "It really just came down to a timing thing and wanting to market a fight with Crawford properly. Maybe we do it in 2026 and align the schedules because we were very close to making that fight happen. It's a massive fight and when I beat Joshua it will be even bigger."

The 28-year-old also responded to Francis Ngannou, who told TMZ Sports that Paul's team reached out to him regarding a bout before he declined after feeling disrespected by the potential clash.

"I was definitely surprised, but fighters aren't very smart people, especially Francis Ngannou," Paul said, per Hale. "When he sees me outperform him against Joshua, he's going to be exposed for the idiot that he is. He messed up, and I think he realizes that now."

The former UFC heavyweight champion explained that money wasn't the issue in his brief negotiations with Paul's Most Valuable Promotions.

"If it was about the number, I would have tell you," Ngannou said, via TMZ Sports. "I'm just not interested, it makes no sense for me. It's not what I'm looking at right now."

"The fight makes no sense," he added. "That's what I think, that's my position."

As for Crawford, Paul said he was close to facing off against the three-division undisputed champion before scheduling conflicts resulted in him fighting Joshua instead (h/t Hale).

Crawford also expressed his interest in fighting Paul during an April appearance on Shannon Sharpe's Club Shay Shay podcast, via Bloody Elbow's Jamie Theodosi.

Crawford took down Canelo Álvarez on Sept. 13 to become the undisputed super middleweight champion, although he was stripped of the WBC super middleweight title after failing to pay sanctioning fees on Dec. 3.

In the meantime, Paul and Joshua will face off on Friday night at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida.