Jake Paul had to stretch out his neck to look into his opponent, Anthony Joshua’s eyes. Standing at 6 feet 6 inches, the English heavyweight is quite literally a tall order for Paul to take on. But despite the daunting challenge and the growing concern among fans over his well-being as he prepares to face one of boxing’s most formidable punchers, Paul appears unfazed. As far as he’s concerned, an unnecessary hype surrounds the former unified champion.

And it appears Jake Paul‘s scorn isn’t limited to Anthony Joshua alone. Paul believes a few other boxers have enjoyed unwarranted praise from fans and followers. Chief among them, in his view, are Canelo Alvarez and Ryan Garcia. Both fighters had been in the mix for potential matchups with him. So, could Paul’s latest jab be an attempt to set up future fights once he wraps up the Joshua business?

Garcia, Canelo, and Joshua – Jake Paul calls out boxing’s big three

Some interesting takes surfaced when Paul was asked to name the athletes he thinks are genuinely overrated. After naming baseball legend Babe Ruth, he called Trevor Lawrence ‘overpaid and overrated.’ Drawing soccer fans’ ire, he then listed Cristiano Ronaldo.

Some might agree when he called out Ryan Garcia. After mentioning Conor McGregor, he pointed to another football player, Dak Prescott. Basketball shooting guard Anthony Edwards followed before Paul turned his attention to Canelo Alvarez. As many fans know, Paul and Canelo had a brief back-and-forth following the collapse of their rumored matchup earlier this year.

Paul still hasn’t forgiven the Mexican star for ignoring his callout. And finally, after quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, his upcoming opponent’s name entered the mix. “Lastly, Anthony Joshua—overrated,” he said. With over a million views on the post, his take has clearly stirred up a storm.

As far as boxing is concerned, perhaps with the exception of Canelo, both Ryan Garcia and Anthony Joshua have sizable groups of supporters and critics debating their legacies.

Jake Paul not sold on AJ?

Still, one might ask: why fight or call out fighters he thinks are so overrated? Before he stepped in against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., talk of a Jake Paul-Canelo fight captured widespread attention. However, the idea fizzled out once it became clear that Canelo would face Terence Crawford after William Scull under a new Riyadh contract.

As for Ryan Garcia, the two sides, including Paul’s older brother Logan, have long been at loggerheads. After the Tank Davis fight fell apart, Garcia appeared to be the frontrunner as a replacement until his promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, shut it down, citing broadcast issues.

That brings us to Joshua. If you want to understand why Paul considers AJ overrated, you only need to listen to Nakisa Bidarian.

Spilling the tea on the matchup, the Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) co-founder suggested that Joshua might be an ‘easier, albeit more dangerous’ fight than Gervonta Davis. “Davis is small, extremely fast, extremely skilled, extremely precise, and has knockout power. AJ is big, long, and strong. But not as active, not as mobile, not as quick. That gives Jake a chance to show up better while avoiding getting caught cleanly — in any heavyweight fight, you have to avoid that,” he reportedly said.

Now it’s over to Joshua to prove he still has the firepower that once terrorized the boxing world. Anything less, and Jake Paul’s words will reverberate across the boxing world.

Do you agree with Jake Paul’s assessment of overrated boxers?