Promoter Eddie Hearn says he is in talks with Jake Paul’s advisor and Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) co-founder Nakisa Bidarian about setting up a fight with Anthony Joshua.
Hearn says if AJ is going to have a “good fight,” he considers a fight with Jake Paul a good option for “a lot of money.” This makes financial sense as Paul’s interest would be significant thanks to Paul’s huge social media following and his marketing skills.
Hearn wants to get rid of former two-time heavyweight champion Joshua (28-4, 25 KO) before the end of 2025 to prepare him for a world title fight in 2026 or the long-awaited fight with Tyson Fury.
Jake Paul’s popularity
YouTube: 20.9 million subscribers
Instagram: 28.7 million followers
X (Twitter): 4.6 million followers
TikTok: 18.5 million followers
This could backfire on Hearn as 28-year-old Jake is younger than 36-year-old Joshua and has world-class right-hand punching power. If he detonates one of his shots to AJ’s chin, he will ruin his dreams of fighting Fury or winning the world title again once and for all.
Hearn confirms the talks
“There were a few conversations between me and Nikisa. I think Jake and AJ talked as well,” said promoter Eddie Hearn. Boxing in the match room about his interest in organizing the next fight between Anthony Joshua and Jake Paul. “From our point of view, if we are to finish the fight, why not fight Jake Paul for a lot of money?”
Logically, the shrewd move for Joshua and Hearn is to fight Jake Paul in December, using him as a reinforcement and making a ton of money in the process.
Hearn has already said that the idea is to select the person for allocation on a card basis. However, the fight between Joshua and Paul will not be a typical undercard match. Fan interest will be too great to keep this fight on the undercard.
“So the talks are ongoing. I can’t say they’re close. I can’t say we’ve seen a contract,” Hearn said of the Joshua vs. Paul negotiations. “But if he really wants to fight Anthony, I don’t see why he shouldn’t have a chance to fight that fight.”
“Our attention is focused on the charge for the world heavyweight championship and the charge on Tyson Fury. We have no influence on that either. Absolutely anything is possible at the moment,” Hearn said.
Matchroom doesn’t have much time to negotiate the fight between Joshua and Paul. With December only a month away, Hearn would need to quickly come to an agreement between the two to make the megafight take place in December.
Jake Paul Knockout Threat
This is a fight that could prove to be a disaster for Joshua, as he is coming off a devastating fifth-round knockout against Daniel Dubois on September 21, 2024, and by the time he faces Paul in December 2025, he will be out of the ring for 15 months. What’s more, Joshua is 36 years vintage and has already put a lot of miles on the clock in his 12-year professional career.
A loss to Jake Paul will likely cause Joshua to retire. At this point, there would be no reason for him to continue fighting. Now he’s just hanging around hoping to fight Fury and win another world title.
Last August, Bidarian made it clear that the fight between Joshua and Jake Paul was all about “hit and go.” This could be the time to do just that, provided they can broker a deal quickly enough to force their way into the fray before the end of the year.
Their first meeting, which ended with Mayweather winning by unanimous decision, took place in 2015 and became the most lucrative boxing gala of all time.
By then, former multi-division world champions were already considered to be past their prime, and Pacquiao in particular no longer had the speed and ferocity for which he had always been known.
It must be admitted, however, that the Filipino has played eight professional matches since their first meeting, and his last assignment was in July against Mario Barrios.
And despite a nearly four-year layoff following his loss to Yordenis Ugas, Pacquiao was able to hold a controversial draw against the then-WBC welterweight champion.
Meanwhile, Mayweather hasn’t fought professionally since a 10th-round victory over Conor McGregor in 2017, but his dominant victory over “Pac Man” more than two years earlier led many to predict a similar result in the rematch.
One of them is Romero, who told “The Last Stand” podcast. that he cannot see Pacquiao, at the age of 47, making any drastic changes to his original performance.
“Floyd wins. And whatever happens, happens. It was meant to be. Whoever God wants to win, will win.”
“But what would be the difference [to] first fight? Was there really anything else Pacquiao could have had? [done]?”
Mayweather, now 49, has competed in a series of exhibition matches since his victory over McGregor, but now he is preparing to put his 50-0 record on the line.
The Matchroom promoter believes this approach prevents reporters from pressing White on more complex topics related to the business side of combat sports.
“I listen to these guys asking questions and no one is pushing him,” Hearn said. “Nobody’s really asking any solemn questions. Nobody’s really asking any of the right questions. It’s a huge machine that you can’t get close to and ask real questions.”
Hearn suggested that reporters covering White should challenge him on issues such as fighter compensation and revenue sharing in the UFC.
“When I’m in the middle of a media row, I ask the question: if Tom Aspinall is generating more money into the pot than Conor Benn, why is he making 10 times less money?” Hearn said. “Can you answer that?”
The comparison between Aspinall and Benn highlights one of the arguments Hearn has repeatedly made when discussing the financial differences between boxing and mixed martial arts. In boxing, fighters typically negotiate individual amounts for events, television rights and commercial deals. The UFC, on the other hand, operates on the basis of long-term promotional contracts that determine the remuneration of fighters.
Hearn’s comments come amid growing friction between the British promoter and White following the launch of Zuffa Boxing. The first major events under the modern venture, backed by TKO Group Holdings and Saudi investment, are expected to take place later this year as White moves beyond MMA.
White has already publicly fired Hearn, describing him as just another manager entering the MMA space. Meanwhile, Hearn questioned the initial direction of the project and the quality of the events produced so far.
The exchange quickly turned into one of the more high-profile rivalries surrounding efforts to build a modern boxing league.
Hearn’s criticism of interview restrictions also touches on a broader issue in combat sports media: how much reporters can challenge promoters and management when access to fighters and events often depends on maintaining professional relationships. These questions need to continue to be asked, according to Hearn.
Mike Tyson has shared his verdict on who he ranks higher between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.
Mayweather and Pacquiao are considered two of the greatest boxing legends in recent history, and their success led to a battle between them at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas in May 2015.
Mayweather is now 49 and Pacquiao is 47, both men are well past their prime, and there is often debate among boxing fans as to which man was better than the other during the best years of their careers.
Mayweather retired with a perfect 50-0 record, defeating the likes of Oscar De La Hoya and Canelo Alvarez, while Pacquiao is the only eight-division boxing world champion in history to boast victories over the likes of Juan Manuel Marquez and Miguel Cotto.
Heavyweight icon Tyson once expressed his own opinion on who was the better of the two, ace revealed that he thinks Pacquiao has achieved more.
“Pacquiao is better than Floyd. He overcame adversity. He got knocked out, came back and had some sensational fights against opponents that outperformed any opponent Floyd had fought.”
Before Mayweather faces Pacquiao in a rematch, he is actually scheduled to face Tyson himself, and an event between the pair will take place soon, although it appears it will not take place on the originally announced April 25 date.
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