“You Can’t Eat Legacy” As Joshua Fights Jake Paul

Eddie Hearn says he is still unsure if the Anthony Joshua vs Jake Paul fight will still take place. He says they still are “consider it,” and they “work” on it.

Joshua chases fury-level cash

Hearn says that if the Joshua-Paul fight is made, it will be Joshua the “same kind” money as he would if he faced Tyson Fury in 2026. If he’s right about that, it makes perfect sense for AJ to fight Jake because the dough will be astronomical for him.

In addition, the worldwide attention that Joshua, 36, will receive for fighting Jake on Netflix will be huge. Paul’s social media reach is huge, dwarfing Tyson Fury’s with these numbers:

• YouTube: 20.8 million
• Instagram: 28.3 million
• TikTok: 18.1 million
• X: 4.6 million
• Facebook: 5.7 million

As for the criticism former two-time heavyweight champion Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs) will receive from fans for fighting YouTuber boxer Jake Paul, Hearn says, “You can’t eat legacy.”

AJ’s Legacy vs Reality

Joshua has already received a lot of criticism for fighting former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou in 2024, as well as low-level fighters: Otto Wallin, Robert Helenius and Jermaine Franklin in 2023.

“We don’t know yet if we’ll fight Jake Paul, but next year we’ll fight in February,” promoter Eddie Hearn said. talkSport Boxing about Anthony Joshua’s plans. “Should Jake Paul fight Anthony Joshua? No. Is there tens, tens, tens and tens of millions of dollars for Anthony Joshua to have an eight-round run out against Jake Paul? Yes.”

Hearn’s shaggy look

The wolf look at Hearn’s face when he described the spoils that would make Joshua fight Jake Paul suggests he’s going to do everything in his power to make the fight happen in December for AJ. He looked full. It certainly beats Joshua fighting a contender and possibly getting knocked out.

At this point, it’s hard to predict if Joshua can beat even the bottom feeders in the top 15. Hearn booked a top 100-level heavyweight for AJ’s potential fight in December, but he said the money would only be in the “million” category.

Forget Legacy – Grab the bag

“We’re not doing it. We’re considering it, and right now there’s work to do. But can it happen? Yes, it can. Same kind of levels,” Hearn said when asked if the money Joshua would make fighting Jake Paul would be more than he would get fighting Tyson Fury.

If Joshua can actually make Fury-level money fighting Jake Paul, he should be heading in that direction for December anyway. The negotiations for the Paul fight will probably be much easier for Hearn than dealing with ‘The Gypsy King’. However, it is unclear whether Turki Alalshikh will be involved in the talks for the Joshua-Paul fight. Given his lack of interest in Canelo Alvarez fighting Jake Paul, you’d have to assume he wouldn’t be interested.

Joshua vs. Jake Paul is no more of a circus-level fight than this Saturday’s Chris Eubank Jr. against Conor Benn 2 rematch not. Both fit into the celebrity-like category. As such, if Turki was willing to fund the Eubank Jr-Benn 2 between the two nepotism babies, he should be all in for the Joshua-Paul clash.

Jake Paul: The ATM Adversary

“Forget the legacy talk, because you can’t eat legacy. I hate the talk too, ‘He’s (Joshua) got a load of money,'” Hearn said of the flak Joshua will receive for choosing to fight the undeserving Jake Paul just for financial reasons. In other words, greed.

Hearn makes a good point. The legacy stuff doesn’t pay as well as a Jake Paul odd clash for Joshua. If we’re talking pure, dumb entertainment, Joshua vs. Paul would be more interesting than AJ challenging for a heavyweight world title against Oleksandr Usyk. With Joshua’s recent record, he doesn’t deserve a title shot anyway.

“We can stick one on this geezer and do it in front of the whole world. Then we can move forward to the real things in 2026, which is very important to us. It’s to fight in February and fight Tyson Fury or try to get a shot at the world heavyweight championship,” Hearn said of how Joshua could destroy Jake Paul when the whole fight between them, or if the whole civilized fight happens in front of the world.