Anthony Joshua vs Jake Paul could be the final fight of Paul’s short boxing career.
After winning last Saturday against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., Paul mentioned the possibility of starting a future battle with Joshua. This is not the first time Paul has discussed his desire to face two uncontroversial heavyweight champions.
Speaking to Talksport, Matchroom boxing promoter Eddie Hearn supported a potential matchup, but I’m not sure if Paul will benefit the best health.
“Look, he’s calling Gervonta Davis, who’s 135 pounds light. He’s calling Anthony Joshua, that’s a heavyweight monster,” Hearn said. “I think Jake Paul is crazy enough to fight Anthony Joshua because money is absolutely indecent. That leads to the end of Jake Paul, which is a devastating incongruity that people tune to see.
“It’s a battle I really shouldn’t have happened once I’m honest.”
Paul has been 12-1 since his professional boxing debut in 2020, and at least as far as the name value is concerned, he has put together an impressive list of victory. “The Problem Child” has yet to step into the ring against a prominent current boxer, but he has booked himself against recognizable names from the world of combat sports, especially former UFC stars Nate Diaz, Anderson Silva, Tyron Woodley, Mike Perry and Ben Askren defeating them all.
The biggest feather of his hat, and the most heavily criticized for his opposing choice, was his battle with heavyweight legend Mike Tyson, who aired live on Netflix this November. Paul won a unanimous decision against 58-year-old Tyson.
Hahn believes Paul deserves respect for his development in the ring, regardless of who is fighting.
“About Jake Paul, I think you have to give him a margin of respect,” Hearn said. “This guy is experiencing movement. He’s putting in a hard spur. He was just a 10-round fighter, yes, a washed-down fighter, but former world champion who trained for that fight. They’re very smart about who they choose.
Joshua (28-4) dropped out of a disappointing knockout loss to Daniel Dubois this September. This loss took Joshua’s four-game victory, who was about to win DuBois’ IBF title. The British star dabbled in the most notably surprising fight in March 2024 when he won the incredible knockout of former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannow.
It is unclear how Joshua will return to another title opportunity or whether he will try to pursue a match against Paul.
“He’s not exactly seeing Jake Paul go, that’s my dream,” Hearn said of Joshua. “Is he going there and hiding a ton of money chunks from him? Maybe. He says, ‘Yeah, keep going. I want to see it.’ ”
This week, the WBA decided to include Paul in the cruiserweight rankings, putting the influencer-turned boxer on the list. Hearn doesn’t think Paul is yet to prove to be on that level, but he was particularly impressed with his slow start.
“I think a lot of these governing bodies are bodies they govern, but some of them are like they’re being commercially guided,” Hearn said. “They think it would benefit them if Jake Paul was in the rankings. I think Jake Paul is in the top 100 in the cruiser-class world. By the way, given the fact that this guy found boxing in his mid-20s, I don’t think it’s a terrible result. I think he’s doing well.
“Is he world class? It’s definitely not. But he’s improving and he’s far better than many of the fighters there.