EDDIE HEARN has told Jake Paul to be careful for what he wishes for when it comes to calling out Anthony Joshua.
YouTuber-turned-boxer Paul brazenly challenged AJ on his podcast with a series of savage swipes.
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AJ looked to quite literally call the American’s bluff by phoning him up – with the two teasing a shock bout in 2026 after a chat on the blower.
But promoter Hearn warned that Joshua is no Mike Tyson – the 58-year-old legend Paul beat over eight rounds in November.
Hearn told SunSport: “Medically, you’ve gotta be very careful in that fight because that’s dangerous. That’s no joke.
“You’re not fighting a 60 year old man, you’re fighting a heavyweight in his prime, that could actually remove your head from your neck and shoulders.
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“It’s also the fight game, it’s prizefighting. So it’s definitely not a fight AJ’s phoning me out going, ‘Make the Jake Paul fight.’
“I don’t know, I mean the world is so mad we’d do it. But you can’t come out and go, ‘AJ’s stiff, AJ’s got no chin… in 2026, I’ll be ready for him!’
“What about 2025? We don’t have an opponent yet, so if you really want the fight, we’ll do it in 2025.
“But you might have to wait for AJ to get to 60 to give yourself a chance in that fight.”
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Paul’s win over Tyson – who returned for his first professional fight in 20 YEARS – was marred in controversy amid the huge age difference.
But still over 100 MILLION watched on Netflix – prompting suprise talks to fight Canelo Alvarez in May in Las Vegas.
But Canelo, 34, walked away from the bout to instead sign a four-fight deal with Saudi Arabia’s Turki Alalshikh.
And with Paul looking for his next opponent, he called out two-time heavyweight world champion Joshua.
But Hearn did not bother reaching out for Paul’s camp for talks, explaining: “No, because once they said 2026, it’s just clickbait at that point.
“I do acknowledge that Jake is crazy enough, like the Canelo stuff was quite crazy.
“But at least Jake’s bigger than Canelo. He’s dwarfed by AJ in every manner.”
You’re not fighting a 60 year old man, you’re fighting a heavyweight in his prime, that could actually remove your head from your neck and shoulders.
Eddie Hearn
Joshua, 35, is yet to return since his knockout loss to Daniel Dubois in September and has recently suffered an injury in training.
And the 2012 Olympic champ phoned Paul up after the prankster-gone-prizefighter’s bold callout.
Paul said: “I want to fight Anthony Joshua – exclusive – because I know I will f***ing beat Anthony Joshua’s ass.
“He doesn’t have a chin, and he has no skill and he’s stiff. I love you Anthony, we’e friends, all this s*** but I want to fight you.”
And Hearn reckons Paul’s ego is being greased by his peers to the point of actually thinking he could beat AJ, who stands 6ft 6in and 18 STONE.
He said: “Look, Jake wouldn’t be what Jake was without being unbelievably deluded. Same with me!
“I think everybody, every high achiever is incredibly deluded, but Jake’s got the people around him it’s like, ‘Do you know what? I watched that AJ fight with Dubois, I think you do him you know.’
“And everyone goes, ‘Yeah Jake, you do AJ.’ And he’s sitting there going, ‘Yeah bro, tell me again bro, yeah.’
“And then walks out of the room going, ‘I’ll beat AJ.’ And it’s like, OK.”
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