EDDIE HEARN has defended Anthony Joshua’s shock Netflix fight against Jake Paul as an offer too good to turn down.
AJ landed boxing’s biggest no-brainer fight when he accepted the December 19 bout
Jake Paul and Anthony Joshua meet in the ring on December 19Credit: PA
But it has drawn criticism from Joshua’s boxing peers – including former sparring partner Dave Allen who labelled it “horrific”.
Retired world champion Carl Froch said on SunSport’s Split Decision show that AJ’s career is OVER
But his promoter Hearn told us in Riyadh: “I get the whole, ‘But do you think that it taints his legacy and all that?’
“Sometimes in life you’ve just gotta think a little bit bigger than that. This is an opportunity that couldn’t be missed.”
Joshua, 36, is yet to return since his September 2024 knockout loss to Daniel Dubois at Wembley.
He was due to do so over the weekend in Saudi Arabia
But Paul, 28, selected AJ to replace Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis – who was pulled off their November 14 exhibition amid domestic abuse allegations.
And they will fight over ten three-minute rounds, professionally-sanctioned
Hearn confirmed Joshua – – is set to fight in Riyadh in February with September reserved for Tyson Fury.
And AJ can now enter his 2026 double header as an overnight boxing hero if he ends fans’ long wait for Paul to be KO’d.
Hearn said: “I cannot fathom or even begin to think about AJ losing to Jake Paul. I guess anything’s possible, but you know. I don’t see how that can happen.
“But listen, you have to give Jake Paul the credit. I mean, he’s doing this because he wants to challenge himself as a boxer. Which deserves respect.
“I think it’s a bad move from him, but he’s obviously convinced himself and members of the team, and by the way, I suppose if you really want to try and start convincing yourself this is a good time to fight Anthony Joshua, you probably can.
“He’s been out for 15 months or whatever it’ll be. He’s coming off a knockout defeat. Maybe his confidence isn’t what it was but he’s still Anthony Joshua.
“He’s not Mike Tyson who’s 58. This guy’s still pretty much in his prime So yeah, the whole thing’s madness but it was an opportunity that we couldn’t refuse.
“And, I love our spot for so many reasons like. We were gonna run out against Cassius Chaney for I don’t know, 1/40th of the money that we’re getting to fight Jake Paul.
“We’re still getting that run out, right? And, when I say the run out, all we wanted to do was wrap the hands, go through the procedure.
“And then we get the chance with His Excellency to go into a big fight in February and then go into what will hopefully be the Tyson Fury fight.
“But we’ll do it here with a massive profile. You see, the clever thing about this deal is overnight we’re back as the hottest thing in boxing.
“And once we smash Jake Paul in December, we’ll be 100 per cent, unquestionably the hottest thing in boxing.”
Joshua towered over Paul in their face offCredit: Getty
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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