Heavyweight contender Moses Itauma has offered his immediate reaction to Jake Paul vs Anthony Joshua, shortly after it was announced yesterday afternoon.
It came as a shock to many, at least in the eyes of most die-hard fans, when it emerged that the former two-time world champion would be facing Paul, a YouTuber-turned-boxer, next month.
Regardless of what the majority of people might think, though, the eight-round professional heavyweight bout will nonetheless take place at the Kaseya Center, Miami, live on Netflix.
This is Joshua’s first outing since his punishing defeat to Daniel Dubois, where he was floored four times before being stopped in the fifth round in September 2024.
Not long after that, Paul went eight rounds with a 58-year-old Mike Tyson, for which he weighed around 227lbs, before outpointing Julio Cesar Chavez Jr in a 10-round cruiserweight contest.
It then became apparent that the boxing novice was angling for a catchweight clash with Gervonta Davis, only for the WBA world lightweight champion to be pulled out of their November 14 exhibition match, due to ‘Tank’ facing a civil lawsuit for domestic abuse.
As a result, Paul has now turned his attention towards Joshua who, despite being towards the end of his career at 36 years old, is nonetheless a far more accomplished customer than his 28-year-old opponent.
Because of that, rising star Itauma can only envision one outcome – and not a very pretty one for Paul – unfolding in their contest next month.
Speaking with BBC Sport, Itauma made no effort to hide his true feelings.
“Jake Paul needs to fire his advisors – his people that tell him to make these fights – because [the Joshua fight’s] not good [for him].
Did Jake Paul not watch the [Francis] Ngannou fight? Obviously, there’s making money. But then, at the same time… it’s absurd.
I don’t think Jake Paul’s bad for boxing; I think he’s good. I like Jake Paul. You see what he’s doing with women’s boxing as well.
But, me personally, if I was Jake Paul’s brother, I would be very worried.”
Paul vs Joshua will be streamed live on Netflix on December 19.
