Anthony Joshua would ‘lose all credibility’ if his next fight was against Jake Paul.
That’s according to talkSPORT boxing pundits and Fight Night hosts Spencer Oliver and Gareth A Davies, who both believe now is not the right time for ‘AJ’ to fight Paul.
Paul criticised Joshua’s ‘skill’ and ‘chin’ during a social media call-out of the former two-time heavyweight king this month.
Joshua then revealed on his Instagram the pair had shared a phone call that last over five minutes, cryptically teasing a clash by writing ‘2026’ as the caption.
He was shockingly defeated by Daniel Dubois in front of 96,000 fans at Wembley Stadium last September, subsequently derailing the Brits hopes of reclaiming his throne in the heavyweight division.
Joshua hasn’t fought since, but wanted to make a return against British boxing legend Tyson Fury, until the ‘Gypsy King’ announced his retirement from the sport and made himself unavailable.
Oliver and Davies both acknowledged Joshua could make serious money from a bout with Paul, but insisted his priorities should lie elsewhere for now.
“One thing that Jake Paul does is draws huge numbers,” Oliver said on talkSPORT’s Fight Night.
“There’s not a fighter that wouldn’t fight him because there’s huge money on the table, that’s the fact.
“But do we want to see it? No. I don’t think we could. I think…no I’m going to rephrase that, I don’t think we could see it but later rather than sooner.
“I think Anthony Joshua has to go on his journey first, he has to try and regain that world heavyweight title. Or if he doesn’t, he’s got to try to do it, and then he can entertain Jake Paul.
Davies then made the point that there’s ‘probably $50 million’ in it for ‘AJ’ if he fights YouTuber-turned-professional boxer Paul, who drew record pay-per-view numbers for his showdown with Mike Tyson in November.
But Davies added that it would also ‘massively diminish’ where Joshua currently stands in the world of boxing if he fought Paul now.
Oliver agreed and responded: “You can’t do it right now…If he does it now he’s going to lose all credibility.”
Davies replied: “I do agree with you on that but he will be scratching his head going, ‘I wonder.’
Oliver said: “Let him scratch it mate because if he does it now he loses all credibility.
“He’s a two-time world heavyweight champion looking to regain it for the third time.
“Don’t let Jake Paul get in the way of that. Follow the dream first. Once it’s over, entertain Jake Paul.”
Paul fought boxing icon Tyson at heavyweight in front of 70,000 frustrated fans in Texas during his last showing, but would nonetheless still possess significant size disadvantages in a fight with ‘AJ’.
He, of course, would also be far less experience in the ring, having mainly fought ex-UFC champions, including Anderson Silva and Tyron Woodley, and a victory would be one of the biggest upsets in boxing history.
Joshua has previously praised Paul asserting that his presence is good for the sport, and the latter’s team have suggested in the past that the fight between both men is a realistic option.
Nakisa Bidarian, who manages Paul, said: “Jake’s feedback to me was ‘I want to do that fight’ [ vs Joshua].
“Not now. But I want to do that fight. To be a world champion at cruiserweight, he wants to do that.
“The other is to test the limits of expectations. Test the limits of what’s possible.”
