Jake Paul is set to use his time in New York promoting the third fight between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano to also engage in discussions about a potential boxing match against Anthony Joshua.
Serrano, who is promoted by Paul, is scheduled to face Irish boxing star Taylor on July 11th at Madison Square Garden, following two prior contested bouts between them. Taylor is represented by Matchroom Boxing, the long-standing promoters for Anthony Joshua.
Therefore, as Paul and his team organize the highly anticipated trilogy fight, talks with Eddie Hearn`s Matchroom regarding a surprising clash with AJ will be on the agenda.
Nakisa Bidarian, Paul`s promotional partner, confirmed Anthony Joshua is a primary target. He stated, “He`s adamant that he wants to make that fight happen at the end of 2026 and we`re gonna meet with Matchroom while we`re in New York to promote the greatest trilogy in the history of boxing.”
Paul ventured into the heavyweight division last November in a controversial fight against the 58-year-old Mike Tyson. Although he won the eight revised two-minute rounds, the 28-year-old admitted that the weight increase was challenging.
He recently returned to the cruiserweight limit (200lb) for his victory over former middleweight world champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, 39. Following his points win over ten rounds, Paul once again indicated a willingness to move up in weight to face the 35-year-old Joshua, citing Deontay Wilder, 39, as inspiration.
Paul acknowledged, “I`m definitely not a heavyweight but I`m still gonna take the challenge. But you know, look at Deontay Wilder, he was beating these guys weighing 215lb. Granted he`s like 6`6 or something but anything is possible and I like the challenge.”
He added, “People`s criticism is fight someone in their prime, who`s a beast. I think people just want to see me lose! That`s really what the message is behind it all. And Anthony Joshua is an insane fight, but I want that challenge. We`ve been DMing back and forth. He wants to make it happen. He called me up and it`s looking very likely for next year.”
Paul`s recent win against Chavez Jr. in California is expected to earn him a world ranking with the WBC and WBA. He also mentioned interest in fights against current world champions Gilberto Ramirez, 34, and Badou Jack, 41.
However, criticism persists regarding Paul`s loss to Tommy Fury, 28, in 2023. Paul defended himself, suggesting he wasn`t fully committed to boxing back then, only three years into his professional career.
He explained, “I don`t even think I was a fighter then. I was like two years, two and a half years into the sport and I didn`t really know what I was doing. I didn`t have the proper team around me, the proper conditioning. My lifestyle outside of the ring was still that of like a YouTuber, celebrity actor, whatever I was at that point. So I wasn`t fully focused on boxing.”
Paul concluded, “Like I said, this feels like chapter one`s done tonight. Now we`re moving into chapter two and I`m just getting warmed up in this sport. But people hold the Tommy Fury thing against me, but what now? I just beat a former world champion and I`m coming to avenge that loss as well with Tommy.”
