Prominent boxing broadcasters from Britain are aghast at news that Anthony Joshua, one of the best heavyweights that the country has produced, could be lining himself up to fight a former star on The Disney Channel, Jake Paul, in a real boxing bout.
Though Joshua has bulldozed his way through a number of elite opponents, like Wladimir Klitschko and Alexander Povetkin, he has suffered a massive setback in the last 12 months as he got clobbered and flattened by Daniel Dubois. In the time since, Paul has beaten a 58-year-old Mike Tyson, and 39-year-old Julio Cesar Chavez Jr -- both of whom are former champions in their respective divisions.
Even with Joshua's noticeable decline, and Paul's apparent improvements, there is still a significant talent gap that exists between them that makes any fight "very dangerous," according to Adam Catterall and Gareth A. Davis on talkSPORT.
Boxing Commentators Fume at Jake vs Joshua
Here's a brief transcript from a conversation Davis and Catterall had regarding the crossover fight.
Gareth A. Davies: "Jake Paul is an area-level fighter. A British area-level fighter. And Anthony Joshua is still a killer, and a live heavyweight."
"That should not be sanctioned anywhere in the world, in my view."
Adam Catterall: "It's dangerous, mate."
GAD: "Very dangerous."
Adam: "It brings the sport into disrepute."
"The people that are talking about organizing that should have a real, hard, look at themselves."
GAD: "Even Eddie Hearn is saying he doesn't like the look of it, but you see the glimpses of dollar signs [in his eyes]."
Adam: "There is no price."
GAD: "There shouldn't be."
Adam: "There's absolutely no price on the planet to make that fight, because it's dangerous. You can't forget money, because it's still a business at the end of the day, but think about the talent of these two people. You have an Olympic gold medalist ... a two-time unified, heavyweight champion of the world, with the most amount of title contests in this era.
"And he's taking on a lad, who,10 years ago was presenting TV shows on The Disney Channel."
"But he's an area-level novice. When he fought someone with a boxing pulse, Tommy Fury, he got beat!"
Watch the conversation right here:
It's no foregone conclusion that Joshua fights Paul next because the British slugger has also been linked with a fellow Olympic gold medalist, Tony Yoka. It's a fight that French media already say is 90% likely to happen, with one media outlet reporting that Joshua even said he's expecting to box Yoka.