Joshua risks his credibility for £70 million

The former world champion can't look silly against YouTube sensation Jake Paul or his reputation will be shredded. By Matt Verri

- By Matt Verri

If Anthony Joshua wants, he can kill this guy," declared Oleksandr Usyk, getting to the heart of this spectacle.

Joshua was last in action when challenging Daniel Dubois for the IBF title last September. Victory would have seen him become a three-time heavyweight world champion. Two months later, Jake Paul spent 16 minutes walking around the ring with a 58-year-old Mike Tyson. What odds then on him being Joshua's next opponent?

Eddie Hearn is not one for false modesty but even he would struggle to sell this as a £140million masterplan, seven years in the making. It was Hearn who was the promoter the first time Paul fought, on the undercard of his brother Logan's bout with KSI in 2018. That was the first step of a career that has led to this. On Friday night in Miami, Joshua will fight Paul in an event that will reportedly earn both in the region of £70m.

For what Hearn has described as a "near career-high payday", Joshua should enjoy his easiest fight yet. The talk is that another huge cheque could follow, with Tyson Fury lined up for a long-overdue showdown in 2026.

Fighting Paul does nothing to support claims that Joshua still harbours world-title ambitions but a purse of this size was never going to be turned down by the 36-year-old. It is to Paul's credit that he is brave enough to take on Joshua, though there could be an ugly outcome. This is a professionally sanctioned bout with 10-ounce gloves over eight three-minute rounds. But money talks. As is usually the case, boxing has listened.

Social-media fraud or force?

There can be no disputing that Paul is a marketing genius. His boxing career has only on occasion involved fighting professional boxers, one of whom - Tommy Fury - inflicted his only defeat to date, in 2023. There has been no real proof that the 28-year-old is very good and yet he has talked himself into huge-money events against Tyson and now Joshua.