Eddie Hearn has the same opinion on Jake Paul vs. Anthony Joshua as the rest of us: it’s crazy that this fight is happening.
This is the general opinion of everyone from the most casual of fans to the hardcores,
as well as pretty much every fighter that is not on Jake Paul’s payroll. But for it to extend to Anthony Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn, who put together the fight? Well, that’s certainly something.
After years of competing in mismatches that tilted heavily in his favor, Jake Paul is finally facing someone bigger and much better at boxing than he is. So much better that the adults in the room are questioning how this fight can even be legally sanctioned. Speaking to the BBC, Hearn was as honest as he could be about the legitimacy of the fight.
“I have no real defense of Anthony Joshua versus Jake Paul,” the Matchroom Boxing head said. “It’s crazy that it’s happening and I think the critics are spot on. But we just couldn’t turn it down. No boxer in their right mind would have said no. Anyone who says they would are completely lying through their teeth.”
“We took a fight that we believe will be very straightforward, will give AJ a huge profile in America and one of his career-high paydays.”
Joshua vs. Paul being a career-high payday is extra impressive given Joshua’s history of big money fights and the number of times he’s competed for the notoriously lavish Saudis.
“AJ was going to have a run-out fight in November in Saudi,” Hearn continued. “An eight-rounder against a guy who was ranked about 100th in the heavyweight division. It was an opportunity to wrap the hands with his new training team, do the ring walk and go through the motions. Now we’re doing that same run-out but for 50 times more money.”
There will be no messing about, according to Joshua and his promoter.
“We have a clear strategy in mind: to knock Jake out ASAP,” Hearn said. “Then we go into normal service being resumed in 2026.”
That involves an undisclosed fight in February followed by the long-awaited Tyson Fury superfight … barring, of course, a Jake Paul win, which would mess up all of these plans. But does anyone believe that can happen?
Paul has made a career out of beating opponents no one thought he could beat, but many of those were over-the-hill MMA fighters. We’re about to find out what happens when he competes against one of the best boxers in the world, and we don’t think it’s going to be pretty.
