ANTHONY Joshua could soon find himself involved in a highly lucrative, and yet egregiously bizarre, showdown against cruiserweight novice Jake Paul.
The two-time heavyweight world champion has not fought since last September, back when he suffered a devastating fifth-round stoppage defeat to Daniel Dubois.
Since then, a series of names, including fellow Olympic champion Tony Yoka, have been mooted as possible opponents for 35-year-old’s next outing.
But according to Joshua’s long-term promoter, Matchroom boss Eddie Hearn, social media star Paul, 12-1 (7 KOs), has distanced himself from the pack and emerged as the most likely option.
The 28-year-old’s latest victory arrived against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr who, having not claimed a meaningful win in nearly a decade, produced a performance that made for a largely uneventful display in June.
Paul’s sole defeat, meanwhile, came against Tommy Fury in 2023, while the rest of his fights have mostly involved drastically faded boxers or, worse still, MMA fighters.
But regardless of his lack of credentials in the sport, the polarising character seemingly represents an appealing option for Joshua, 28-4 (25 KOs), who, at the very least, has considered a possible fight with the American.
“Jake Paul is a massive front-runner,” Hearn told Boxing News. “I can’t quite believe what’s happening.
“They [Team Paul] actually think Jake is going to win the fight, and Jake thinks he’s going to beat AJ, which is actually even more dangerous than just going in thinking, ‘Well, as soon as I get hurt, I’ll just take a knee.’
“Do I think it’s a competitive fight? No. Do I think it’s a dangerous fight? Yes. Do I think it’s a fight that may evaporate Jake Paul from the boxing world forever? Yes.
“It’s gone from what I thought was a publicity stunt, to a fight that has every chance of happening.”
It is worth mentioning, too, that Paul, who has recently emerged as the WBA’s 14th-ranked contender at 200lbs, is exploring a potential MMA clash with undisputed heavyweight king Oleksandr Usyk.
In fact, Nakisa Bidarian and Sergey Lapin – the respective members of Team Paul and Team Usyk – have both publicly revealed that talks are ongoing.
So now, it would appear that a race between Joshua and Usyk has officially begun, with both of them chasing what looks to be a gargantuan payday.
