In the last couple of years, Jake Paul has seen a rapid rise in the world of boxing. After defeating the legendary Mike Tyson last November, ‘The Problem Child’ dispatched former middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in June the same way. However, what’s next for the 28-year-old former Disney star? While a potential title clash with Gilberto Ramirez is generating buzz, another matchup gaining traction among fans is a possible showdown with Anthony Joshua. Sparks for this bout initially started to show back in March 2025 in the BS w/ Jake Paul podcast. 

‘El Gallo’ boldly claimed that he could beat the former unified heavyweight champion. “He doesn’t have a chin, and he has no skill, and he’s stiff,” were among the things Paul said. Fast forward to April, Paul shared further updates about the potential fight during the Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano 3 fight press conference. Paul claimed ‘AJ’ reached out to him after his comments, and told him, “I saw you call me out. Let’s run it, let’s make it happen,” confirming a potential fight in 2026. Paul doubled down on his intentions to face Joshua after his win over Chavez Jr., calling out AJ among others. Now, Paul has revealed further details about his private DMs with Joshua.

“Anthony Joshua, baby,” Paul said without hesitation when asked if the ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez fight doesn’t happen, who would he face. “It’s gonna happen.” The reporter from IFL TV further pressed the 28-year-old to delve deeper into his conversation with Anthony Joshua, to which Paul pleasantly obliged. “He just said he’s going to do two more fights,” Paul recollected the conversation. “I’ll do two more fights and then we’ll do it in 2026. But he’s down.” It’s worth noting that after the loss to Daniel Dubois last year, the former unified heavyweight champion opted to go for elbow surgery and is currently supposed to fight in late 2025. Although an opponent hasn’t been finalized.

Regardless, Paul continued, “He said he’s going to kill me, and I’m gonna have to fight for my life. And I was like, all right, let’s do it, big boy.” Paul was recently ranked in the WBA’s cruiserweight rankings in the 14th spot, which would allow him to fight Ramirez for a title. Later reports revealed that the sanctioning body scheduled a meeting during its European Convention in Madrid, Spain, from July 15-18, 2025, to review Jake Paul’s position in the rankings due to overwhelming backlash.

Coming back to a potential Joshua vs. Paul fight, the Brit’s promoter has revealed further details about the bout.

Anthony Joshua vs. Jake Paul: Promoter confesses the truth

As Jake Paul continues to stoke the Anthony Joshua fight flame, Matchroom Boxing CEO Frank Smith seems to have revealed the truth behind the potential fight. While appearing in an interview with MMA journalist Ariel Helwani recently, Smith revealed, “I think there’s a chance you’ll see Anthony Joshua this year.”

It prompted Helwani to probe who the opponent could be, and Smith instantly responded, “Not Jake Paul.” Addressing Paul’s claims about text exchanges with Joshua, Smith shared his perspective. “I think if I [were] Anthony Joshua and I got an opportunity to fight a guy—that was a Disney star—a few years back, no longer,” Smith said. 

Smith acknowledged the success Paul has achieved, but claimed that fighting Anthony Joshua “is very different from fighting a 60-year-old Mike Tyson. Let’s be completely realistic about it.” When asked whether the Joshua-Paul talks were real, Smith claimed, “He is a tremendous marketer, isn’t he?”

Despite what Jake Paul may continue to claim, it appears the potential fight between Jake Paul and Anthony Joshua isn’t a set thing, at least not for now. As Paul said, after both of them are done with their next two fights, perhaps it would be possible. Do you think Paul’s claims are just marketing hype, as Smith suggests?