Boxing

Eddie Hearn Pours Cold Water On Jake Paul-Anthony Joshua Fight News

Eddie Hearn is saying not so fast on the reported fight between Jake Paul and Anthony Joshua.
Grant Young|
Eddie Hearn after the WBC Interim World Flyweight bout at the BP Pulse Live on November 30, 2024.
Eddie Hearn after the WBC Interim World Flyweight bout at the BP Pulse Live on November 30, 2024. | IMAGO / PA Images

On November 12, Mike Coppinger of Ring Magazine made an X post that read, "Anthony Joshua and Jake Paul are finalizing a deal for a heavyweight fight on Netflix in December in Miami, sources tell @ringmagazine. Paul steps up massively to fight the former heavyweight champion after his exhibition with Gervonta Davis was cancelled. Major props to Paul."

This has been the biggest news of the boxing world by far ever since it was announced. While there had been reports that Paul's team was reaching out to several big-name boxers in order to try and get a Netflix fight in before the end of 2025, many were skeptical that they would be able to pull it off.

Few believed that Paul would really be willing to step into the ring against an Olympic gold medalist and former heavyweight world champion like Anthony Joshua, especially on short notice.

However, Paul has seemingly proved a lot of people wrong. And while many are predicting that Paul will get knocked out by Joshua if this fight report is indeed true, Paul deserves a lot of credit for fighting a guy who is 100 pounds heavier and a foot taller than Gervonta.

Jake Paul is closing in to strike Julio Chavez Jr.'s face at the Honda Center in Anaheim California on June 29th, 2025.
Jake Paul is closing in to strike Julio Chavez Jr.'s face at the Honda Center in Anaheim California on June 29th, 2025. | IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire

Eddie Hearn Shuts Down Idea That Jake Paul vs. Anthony Joshua Is Done

Joshua is promoted by Eddie Hearn of Matchroom, who has gone on the record in the past saying that he and Paul's team have been negotiating a potential bout between these two. However, Hearn seems to have taken exception to Wednesday's fight report, which was conveyed by Ariel Helwani during a November 12 episode of The Ariel Helwani Show.

"In the midst of all this [Paul vs. Joshua fight reporting], I did reach out to Eddie Hearn," Helwani said, per an X post from Jed I. Goodman. "And he said, 'We have spoken, but nothing close. And I doubt he would be so crazy.' He, being Jake.

"I then asked him, 'Would you say this report is premature?' [Hearn] said, 'Absolutely'.

Therefore, it sounds like this fight is not finalized and that both sides are negotiating. Hearn didn't seem to appreciate the timing of Coppinger's announcement, as now it seems that both sides would need to come to terms unless they want the boxing world at their respective throats.

It will be interesting to see when this fight is finalized, and whether it does end up taking place in December like Paul's team has wanted.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young is a Staff Writer for On SI’s Boxing, New York Mets, Indiana Fever, and Women’s Fastbreak sites. Before joining SI in 2024, he wrote for various boxing and sports verticals such as FanBuzz and NY Fights. Young has a bachelor’s degree in marketing and a master’s degree in creative writing with an emphasis on sports nonfiction from the University of San Francisco, where he played five seasons of Division 1 baseball. He fought Muay Thai professionally in Thailand in 2023, loves a good essay, and is driven crazy trying to handle a pitpull puppy named Aura. Young lives in San Diego and was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area.