What boxing experts have said about Anthony Joshua | Boxing News

Anthony Joshua is poised to return to the ring in a contentious showdown with Jake Paul. The former world heavyweight champion has remained inactive since his defeat to Daniel Dubois last September.

It has been confirmed that Joshua will take on YouTuber-turned-boxer Paul in Miami on December 19. The encounter will span eight rounds and shall be recognised as a skilled bout. Joshua is set for a profitable payday after agreeing to the combat, which shall be streamed on Netflix, despite his exclusive association with DAZN. Paul has compiled a 12-1 boxing report, with quite a few victories secured against former MMA fighters. He claimed a factors win over Mike Tyson last November and has since triumphed against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. His only loss occurred against Tommy Fury in 2023. The YouTube sensation has predominantly competed as a cruiserweight, offering Joshua with a appreciable weight benefit over his comparatively inexperienced adversary. Here, Express Sport appears at what a number of outstanding boxing personalities have beforehand said about the matchup.

Derek Chisora

“If that fight happens, somebody better go to jail. AJ is going to kill him, it’s unfair. Someone has to go to jail,” former heavyweight title challenger Chisora told Seconds Out.

“Right now, Jake Paul will be watching the last fight that AJ had [with Dubois], and he is going to jump on him. It’s all about [how] AJ deals with the man in front of him. Whatever happens, it will be exciting.

“He [Paul] hasn’t bought the facility to knock out Joshua. Jake Paul goes home in an ambulance [after that fight].”

Joseph Parker

“AJ was a great champion when he was champion. And if he’s severe about boxing and severe about still being concerned in the game at a top stage, that combat does not make any sense at all,” former WBO heavyweight champion Parker, who confronted Joshua in 2018, told Sky Sports.

“Jake Paul has performed properly, you realize, to promote himself in saying that he is one of the best in the world, but if you look at it, he is not likely a real boxer.

“He’s a YouTuber come into boxing, and he has done well. But if AJ wants to be serious, then he needs to fight the top fighters in the world.”

Tommy Fury

“If I can beat Jake Paul, then excuse my French, then what the f*** is ‘AJ’ going to do to Jake Paul,” Fury said to The Stomping Ground. “Even if ‘AJ’ had a broken arm in there, it still wouldn’t go past a minute. To be quite honest with you, as a safety aspect, there’s no way that fight can go ahead.

“How are we even speaking about this? He bought his nut boxed off by me a little over two years in the past, and now all of a sudden he is speaking about beating Anthony Joshua. Come on, he cannot be severe. He cannot beat me, and I’m not Anthony Joshua, am I? It’s just ludicrous.”

Anthony Joshua’s coach Ben Davison

“Yeah [Jake Paul] is (profitable) in heaps of different fields, but like I said, Anthony Joshua might be the most harmful man, or one of the most harmful males in the game. To be stepping in the ring with him, I just suppose it’s deluded from Jake Paul,” Joshua’s trainer Ben Davison said.

Eddie Hearn

“No, not an exhibition,” Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn told Sky Sports before the bout was confirmed. “We’re not in exhibitions. It’s a real combat.

“There’s stuff to be resolved and discussed. It would be a real fight with Queensberry rules, 10-ounce gloves. The rounds would be agreed. The weight, I mean, we may come down to a number that’s more suited for Jake, if that is even a thing.

“It’s a heavyweight combat. There was a bit of a leaping of the gun from the media last night time. It’s a cruiserweight transferring up to heavyweight.”

Hearn continued: “We did not count on that to be against Jake Paul, but it just so occurs that if it’s, it is for 50 instances more money than we have been going to combat for.

“I think if there is any chance of that fight happening next week, you’ll probably hear about it. It’s not done, despite rumours. We have had an approach from MVP (Most Valuable Promotions). I have my doubts.

“I imply, if he can be loopy enough to entertain that, we might be prepared to oblige, in all honesty.

“I think it would be virtually impossible for the levels of money involved to turn down the opportunity to be in that fight. But, like I said, nothing confirmed yet, and we’ll see what happens.”