June saw Jake Paul overcome former middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. via unanimous decision. Following his win, ‘The Problem Child’ ramped up his callout for a fight against former unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua. Although initially it looked like all talk, His Excellency Turki Alalshikh’s involvement in the matter gave it new hope.
Joshua and his promoter, Eddie Hearn, also seemed open to the idea. They wanted to squeeze in Paul before Joshua faced fellow countryman Tyson Fury sometime next year. However, ‘The Gypsy King’ has since announced that he is leaving the sport for good. This leaves Joshua with Paul as the best option. Amid all this, journalist Gareth A Davies has raised a concern.
“You know, let’s be fair,” he said in an interview with Seconds Out. “Jake Paul is an area-level fighter, British area-level fighter. That’s where he’s at as a cruiserweight. He’s stepping in against a very big heavyweight who’s a massive puncher.” Davies highlighted Joshua’s performance against Oleksandr Usyk in their 2022 rematch.
Boxing: Paul vs Silva Oct 29, 2022; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Jake Paul during a boxing match at Desert Diamond Arena.
Image Credits – Imago
Praising Usyk’s greatness, Davies claimed, “Look at some of the highlights of Joshua’s attacks on Usyk. [Joshua] gave him a really hard time for 9-10 rounds in that second fight.” Notably, after losing to Usyk in their first fight, Joshua came back stronger and collected a split decision loss after previously losing via unanimous decision.
Davies fears Joshua would be too much for Paul. “I’m almost in disbelief at the thought of… When you close your eyes, then open them again and think about them in a ring together, it just doesn’t seem safe,” Davies said during the interview. Even though Joshua is coming off a one-sided beating against Daniel Dubois late last year, Hearn seems to share Davies’ views on the fight, who had something similar to say back in July.
While supporting the potential matchup, he told talkSport, “It’s a catastrophic mismatch that people would tune in to watch because it would lead to the end of Jake Paul. Hopefully, not literally, but it’s that dangerous.” Despite knowing what the fight can do to Jake Paul, Joshua’s promoter recently provided a positive update for the bout.
Eddie Hearn shares positive update after opening talks for Anthony Joshua vs. Jake Paul
Hearn seems to have had a recent meeting with Most Valuable Promotions co-founder Nakisa Bidarian. Following the meeting, Hearn revealed that talks for the potential fight between Anthony Joshua and Jake Paul are heading in the right direction and may end up happening. “This is very real,” Hearn told The Ring Magazine.
31st March 2018, Principality Stadium, Cardiff, Wales; WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO Heavyweight Boxing Championship, Anthony Joshua versus Joseph Parker; Anthony Joshua is all smiles after winning in 12 rounds. PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxHUNxSWExNORxDENxFINxONLY ActionPlus12017102
“I had a good chat for about an hour with Nakisa on Wednesday, and now I believe they want the fight, I really do,” he said. Hearn claimed Bidarian was concerned about the fight, but highlighted that Paul believes he can win the fight, or at least be competitive. “Because of the size of the fight, it leads me to believe there’s a very good chance it could happen,” he added.
“If I had to rate that chance, I would say it’s 50-50.”
It appears that despite concerns about the fight from the likes of Gareth A Davies, the potential fight is heading towards reality. Paul, of course, has minimal chance of pulling an upset, but his confidence seems to suggest he would look to copy Daniel Dubois. Do you think Paul is in danger?
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