Jake Paul has remained vocal about his desire to fight Anthony Joshua, and surprisingly, Joshua’s team hasn’t ruled out the possibility. His Excellency Turki Alalshikh has also expressed interest in making the unconventional matchup a reality to put an end to the Jake Paul debate. With all parties seemingly on board, the fight is beginning to feel less like a long shot and more like an eventuality.

However, ‘El Gallo’ seems to have more than one arrow in his quiver—and the latest target could be Deontay Wilder. According to Wilder’s former trainer, Malik Scott, ‘The Problem Child’ might be setting his sights on the former heavyweight champion. Scott revealed that this potential matchup was hinted at during a conversation with Paul’s business partner, Nakisa Bidarian, suggesting that the wheels might already be turning behind the scenes.

“Jake is dead serious about the Deontay Wilder fight,” Scott, who amicably separated from Wilder before Wilder’s fight against Tyrrell Herndon on June 27, in Wichita, told Thunderpick. He was attending the trilogy fight between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano in New York when he ran into Bidarian. “The first thing he said was, ‘We’re interested in the Deontay Wilder fight,’” Scott revealed.

“He asked me, ‘What do I think of it?’ They’re just so serious. Some of the things that he said confidently to me really make you know that they’re not fake confident, they really are confident [in defeating Wilder],” Scott continued. While Scott expressed doubt about whether the fight would ultimately materialize, he emphasized that timing would be the crucial factor in making it happen. “We’re talking about Jake in the ring with Deontay Wilder, it just makes no sense at all. But unfortunately, Jake Paul is a big money guy in the sport of boxing right now,” he said. 

Wilder, of course, recently got back in the win column after defeating Herndon via 7th-round knockout. Paul, on the other hand, is coming off a unanimous decision win over former middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Whether Paul ends up fighting Wilder or Joshua is anyone’s guess at this point, but Joshua’s former trainer seems to think Joshua could do much better than Paul.

Robert Garcia isn’t a fan of Anthony Joshua vs. Jake Paul

Anthony Joshua has worked with his fair share of trainers over the years—Robert Garcia is one of them. The pair worked together before Joshua’s 2022 loss to Oleksandr Usyk in their rematch. Despite the short stint, Garcia believes he knows exactly what the Brit is capable of. And he thinks AJ should choose legacy over money.

“It’s not a bad thing when Jake Paul is calling him out. The money would be huge. From the business side, it would be a great fight, but I would prefer him to fight Wilder or Fury,” Garcia told Seconds Out. “All three of them can fight each other, and that makes great fights.” While Joshua and his team have been open about fighting Tyson Fury, the latter is more focused on a trilogy with Oleksandr Usyk. 

As things are, there’s a lack of clarity on who will fight who next. There are clearly a lot of options available for Jake Paul, but whether he acts upon them is yet to be seen. Do you think the Deontay Wilder vs. Jake Paul fight can happen? Or should Paul pursue Anthony Joshua?