Jake Paul: Anthony Joshua battle can completely occur, says Paul promoter

Jake Paul promoter Nakisa Bidarian instructed Sky Sports he’s having discussions with Eddie Hearn over a blockbuster battle with Anthony Joshua.

Joshua, who has not fought since shedding to Daniel Dubois in September final 12 months, underwent elbow surgical procedure in May however is focusing on a return to the ring later in 2025.

Since then, YouTuber-turned-professional boxer Paul beat veterans Mike Tyson and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. at heavyweight and cruiserweight respectively.

After defeating Chavez by unanimous choice final month, Paul audaciously known as for a showdown with Joshua and has met with Turki Alalshikh to attempt to make it occur.

“I think the fight can absolutely happen,” Bidarian instructed Sky Sports News. “I’m taking a look at it as Jake versus Joshua, which is kind of biblical, and it is fairly impactful in some ways.

“I feel dimension clever, we are able to get snug with it, and I feel expertise clever, Jake is studying very quick and rising, and Joshua is slightly lengthy within the tooth. So it might be a really fascinating matchup, and we’re actively discussing it with Matchroom.

“I feel we’re taking a look at it taking place firstly of 2026. It’s public that AJ was taking slightly time away, I feel he had slightly surgical procedure. So as soon as he is prepared, and as soon as Jake is prepared, we’ll squarely concentrate on that.

“It’s a fight that Jake wants to do, and that’s a discussion we’ve had at length, and he feels very confident about where he is in his career and his chances of upsetting Anthony Joshua.”

There are loads of considerations over whether or not Paul will be capable of make the step as much as tackle a world-leading heavyweight like Joshua, however Bidarian is adamant his star consumer wouldn’t take the battle if he wasn’t prepared.

“Power is obviously the last thing to go,” he added. “So obviously, AJ has a ton of power, and he’s still fairly young. Mike Tyson – much more vicious of a knockout artist than Anthony Joshua – that was a risk Jake was willing to take.

“Francis Ngannou, superb MMA fighter, very highly effective man, however not an skilled boxer, proper? He is quite a bit much less skilled than Jake Paul. So if individuals have been snug with Francis getting in there with AJ, Jake, who’s now 13 fights in, plus one novice battle, then we’re snug with this.

“Wembley’s definitely a possibility. Jake said he’d like to do it there. He likes the idea of going in and hearing 90,000 people booing him!”

Tyson Fury is presently retired from boxing however has teased a return to the game, and promoter Hearn remains to be eager to make a Joshua-Fury battle.

“AJ has been out [of action] for coming up to a year in September, so we definitely want to fight again,” Hearn stated earlier this month.

Hearn: An opportunity to ‘extinguish’ Jake Paul from world of boxing

Paul is most well-known for his YouTube profession however has now received 12 fights after launching his skilled profession in 2020.

The 28-year-old suffered defeat to Tommy Fury in 2023 however has gone on to beat former UFC star Nate Diaz, skilled American boxers Andre August and Ryan Bourland, plus former UFC fighter Mike Perry.

A controversially-sanctioned bout in opposition to Tyson is Paul’s solely heavyweight battle up to now, earlier than he stepped right down to cruiserweight in opposition to Chavez.

“AJ-Paul is never a fight we anticipated, and it’s never a fight we’ve targeted,” Hearn added. “But if you want Jake Paul to be the warm-up fight [for Fury] – and obviously, financially, it’s a great opportunity for AJ – and you want to provide AJ with the opportunity to extinguish Jake Paul from the world of boxing, then maybe AJ would oblige.

“Jake’s a big, strong cruiserweight. I don’t think he’s particularly competitive, but we know in the world we live in, a lot of people would watch it.

“It would be the greatest battle that may be made, bizarrely, within the sport. I’m not going to take a seat right here and let you know, ‘yeah, it is an excellent problem’.

“I think he gets flattened ASAP, but there’ll be a huge amount of people globally that would want to watch that.

“We’ll see. His Excellency stated to us, ‘would you be keen on making the battle?’ I am unable to say no, as a result of till we all know the proposal, perhaps. And if Jake Paul is loopy sufficient to step within the ring with Anthony Joshua, and he may be, due to the sum of money that might be at stake, who is aware of? You may see AJ in opposition to Jake Paul subsequent.”

Harper joins MVP, Dubois or Holm up subsequent?

Bidarian says three-weight world champion Terri Harper may face Caroline Dubois or Holly Holm quickly after signing with Most Valuable Promotions.

“I’m super excited to announce that we have signed Terry Harper as well. She has fought in five different divisions, 20 fights into her career. We think the future’s very bright for her and the rest of the UK.

“I feel there’s some huge fights for her. Caroline Dubois, who has fought on Sky plenty of occasions, we’re excited concerning the potential of that battle. We just lately signed champion Stephanie Hahn within the 135 weight class, who’s preventing in August. That’s one other potential battle for her.

“Holly Holm was a world class boxer before women’s boxing was getting its due. She’s already in the boxing Hall of Fame. She came to UFC and had the biggest upset in UFC history when she knocked out Ronda Rousey in front of 80,000 people in Australia. Now Holly has returned to boxing and her goal is to become a 135 pound champion. So that’s another potential fight for Terry Harper down the road.”