Anthony Joshua may battle Jake Paul subsequent earlier than focusing on a highly-anticipated bout in opposition to Tyson Fury in 2026, says the British heavyweight’s promoter Eddie Hearn.
Joshua, who has not fought since shedding to Daniel Dubois in September final yr, underwent elbow surgical procedure in Might however is focusing on a return to the ring later in 2025.
Since then, YouTuber-turned-professional boxer Paul beat veterans Mike Tyson and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. at heavyweight and cruiserweight respectively.
After defeating Chavez by unanimous choice final month, Paul audaciously known as for a showdown with Joshua and has met with Turki Alalshikh to attempt to make it occur.
“Turki came in and said, ‘I’m going to make that fight’,” Hearn, who additionally held a gathering with Alalshikh and Paul’s supervisor Nakisa Bidarian, informed Sky Sports activities Information.
“Jake Paul’s supervisor has come out and stated, ‘nobody decides who Jake Paul fights however us’. I’ve bought a smaller ego on this scenario, which is kind of exceptional!
“For us, we want to fight Tyson Fury, but we are going to fight before that Tyson Fury fight because Tyson Fury is not going to fight Anthony Joshua before spring or summer of 2026.”
Fury is at the moment retired from boxing however has teased a return to the game, and Hearn continues to be eager to make a Joshua-Fury battle. He continued: “AJ has been out [of action] for coming up to a year in September, so we definitely want to fight again.”
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Anthony Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn speculates as as to whether his fighter would ever face Jake Paul within the ring
Hearn: An opportunity to ‘extinguish’ Jake Paul from world of boxing
Paul is most well-known for his YouTube profession however has now received 12 fights after launching his skilled profession in 2020.
The 28-year-old suffered defeat to Tommy Fury in 2023 however has gone on to beat former UFC star Nate Diaz, skilled American boxers Andre August and Ryan Bourland, plus former UFC fighter Mike Perry.
A controversially-sanctioned bout in opposition to Tyson is Paul’s solely heavyweight battle to date, earlier than he stepped all the way down to cruiserweight in opposition to Chavez.
“AJ-Paul is never a fight we anticipated, and it’s never a fight we’ve targeted,” Hearn stated.
“However if you would like Jake Paul to be the warm-up battle [for Fury] – and clearly, financially, it is an amazing alternative for AJ – and also you wish to present AJ with the chance to extinguish Jake Paul from the world of boxing, then possibly AJ would oblige.
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“Jake’s a big, strong cruiserweight. I don’t think he’s particularly competitive, but we know in the world we live in, a lot of people would watch it.
“It might be the largest battle that may be made, bizarrely, within the sport. I am not going to take a seat right here and let you know, ‘yeah, it is an amazing problem’.
“I think he gets flattened ASAP, but there’ll be a huge amount of people globally that would want to watch that.
“We’ll see. His Excellency stated to us, ‘would you be all for making the battle?’ I can not say no, as a result of till we all know the proposal, possibly. And if Jake Paul is loopy sufficient to step within the ring with Anthony Joshua, and he could be, due to the amount of cash that might be at stake, who is aware of? You might see AJ in opposition to Jake Paul subsequent.”
