Anthony Joshua’s Promoter Confesses Truth Behind ‘Talks’ With Jake Paul

Post-Chavez fight, Jake Paul loudly proclaimed, “I want everybody—Anthony, Joshua, Gervonta, and Tommy, stop running.” Two weeks later, at the media event of the Katie Taylor-Amanda Serrano headlined Madison Square Garden card, he asserted, “It’s going to happen.” He was talking about the showdown with Anthony Joshua. Earlier this year, Paul shocked everyone when he called out the former heavyweight champion.

He’s quite confident of giving Joshua, who’s been dealing with a string of challenges of his own, a sound beat down. Putting aside Jake Paul’s claims, AJ’s fast running out of time. He needs to put his career back on track before it’s too late. So would he rather march off to fight someone like Tyson Fury or Deontay Wilder or take on the Ohioan? If one goes by what Frank Smith, the CEO of Anthony Joshua’s Matchroom Boxing Promotions, said, the Jake Paul fight appears unlikely, at least for now.

Smith was the latest guest on The Ariel Helwani Show. Some half an hour later, Helwani probed if Anthony Joshua could potentially return during the last part of this year. As most fans are aware, Joshua had to undergo surgery to treat an elbow injury. Thus, putting him out of action for at least six to eight weeks.

But Frank Smith had a surprise in store for Helwani. “I think there’s a chance you’ll see Anthony Joshua this year,” he stated. The response prompted Helwani to check for an opponent’s name. Smith smiled and replied, “Not Jake Paul.” Given AJ and Paul’s recent exchanges, an intrigued Helwani probed if their fight was unrealistic.

Smith could barely control his laughter. He acknowledged Jake Paul’s recent comments that the AJ ‘fight is going to happen,’ saying, “Look, a lot of people will laugh at it. You know, I think if I was Anthony Joshua, and I got an opportunity to fight a guy that was a Disney star a few years back…,” Smith stated. He acknowledged the space Paul has built for himself. “But fighting Anthony Joshua is very different from fighting a 60-year-old Mike Tyson. Let’s be completely realistic about it.”

Frank Smith admitted that Jake Paul’s prowess pulls crowds. But the fact remains: “He’s not at the level of these guys. He’s not Canelo, he’s not Anthony Joshua.” The admission starkly contrasts with Paul’s statement.

Jake Paul vs. Anthony Joshua: Navigating hope and skepticism

At the open workout, when iFL TV’s Colm McGuigan probed for the AJ match, Jake Paul mentioned that the fight’s ‘going to happen.’ The Cleveland native said, “He just said, uh, he’s gonna do two more fights. I’ll do two more fights, and then we’ll do it in 2026.”

Frank Smith’s comments don’t veer off the views held by his boss, Matchroom head Eddie Hearn. According to the English promoter, Jake Paul-Anthony Joshua would be a ‘catastrophic mismatch.’ Hearn said, “I think Jake Paul is crazy enough to go to fight Anthony Joshua because the money would be absolutely obscene,” before concluding that it’s a fight that, in his opinion, shouldn’t happen at all.

Even otherwise, the mere thought of a Paul-Joshua matchup sounds quite offbeat. Admittedly, the English heavyweight has once again run into a rough patch. But that doesn’t diminish what he could do to an opponent whose career has been marred by fights mostly against aging, retired, or semi-retired fighters. One only needs to look at what happened to Francis Ngannou last year.

What are your thoughts on the Jake Paul-Anthony Joshua fight? Does it interest you?