“Due to lack of opportunities, accept what comes,” that’s how it has been put to Anthony Joshua, who sought a fight with real contenders such as Oleksandr Usyk, Tyson Fury, even Joseph Parker. However, all the top exponents are busy with their upcoming commitments, so the Briton is about to accept a “cardboard fight” against YouTuber Jake Paul. According to promoter Eddie Hearn, both fighters are available so “it’s halfway there.”
The “mental, crazy and dangerous” heavyweight fight between two-time world champion Anthony Joshua and 13-fight novice Jake Paul has great appeal for the Matchroom boss, who has promoted Joshua throughout his professional career, who has held previous talks about this possible fight with Nakisa Bidarian and is convinced that Paul is serious about his desire to face AJ.
Jake Paul is willing to face an active heavyweight champion
Since he started his boxing career, the former YouTuber has always been in the headlines calling out the sport’s biggest stars, promising to one day beat Canelo Alvarez to become world champion. But now Paul is thinking even bigger and recently has set his sights on Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs), the 6-foot-6-inch tall, former world champion and 2012 Olympic gold medallist, who boasts knockout victories over Wladimir Klitschko, Alexander Povetkin and Kubrat Pulev.
However, with the fight against Tyson Fury that Joshua so desires seemingly in danger of never materialising, his team has been contacted about several possible fights. One of these is against Paul, and Hearn claims the idea has merit following his call with Paul’s business partner. “This is very real. I had a good chat for about an hour with Nakisa on July 30 and now I think they really want the fight. I really do,” Hearn said.
The talent and quality between Joshua-Paul is evident
Paul, 28, last fought in June, when he earned a unanimous decision against former WBC middleweight world champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. over 10 rounds at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Before that, he had beaten 59-year-old veteran Mike Tyson over eight two-minute rounds in November. “Nakisa was very honest and is worried about the fight, but Jake really believes he can win the fight or at least be competitive.”
Meanwhile, Anthony Joshua has not fought since he was knocked out by Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium in June last year, in his bid to become a three-time world heavyweight champion. That night, he weighed just over 252 pounds, while Paul weighed just under 200 pounds in his fight against Chavez. Due to the magnitude of the fight, there is a very good chance it will happen. Talks have begun and for Eddie Hearns it was a very positive conversation where he hopes it will continue in the coming weeks.
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