What once seemed like the biggest of pipe dreams is set to become a reality on Friday night. Jake Paul will give all of his haters what they have wanted to see for a long time: him fighting an elite boxer. Paul went full-blast with his opponent choice, too, opting to step into the ring with a mammoth.
Anthony Joshua, the former heavyweight world champion, comes into the fight in incredible shape and looking to knock out Paul in order to get the taste of defeat out of his mouth. AJ’s last fight was against Daniel Dubois, which ended in a loss via stoppage and halted all of Joshua’s momentum coming into the bout. Now, Joshua has to reinvent himself, and Paul is the first stepping stone on that road. And that’s exactly what everyone sees in Paul for Joshua: a minor bump in the road, and somewhat of a laughingstock.
Boxing writer calls Paul-Joshua fight “a stunt, a laugh”
Conspiracy theories are still out there regarding whether Joshua will actually be allowed to unleash all of his punching power on Paul on fight night. Regardless, boxing purists believe this event will be one that people barely remember in the grand scheme of things. James Regan of ESPN‘s boxing coverage staff sees this fight in the same light as Muhammad Ali fighting professional wrestler Antonio Inoki in 1976; an event that almost no one remembers.
It was a stunt, a laugh, a scheme to make money and turn heads. Does anyone care now? Not really. Joshua’s fight against Paul, whatever you think of it, will simply be a footnote on his glittering career when all is said and done. Something you discuss fleetingly over a beer: “Remember that time AJ fought Jake Paul?”
Paul really has nothing to lose coming into this fight. Everyone is expecting him to get knocked out. His haters want to see him get KO’d in explosive fashion. But if he doesn’t, he will come out as the “winner”.
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