LONDON (AP) 鈥� Anthony Joshua losing to Jake Paul would be 鈥渁n absolute disaster and awfully embarrassing,鈥� the British fighter’s promoter said Wednesday.
Writing in a column for the BBC, Eddie Hearn said it was 鈥渃razy鈥� that Joshua 鈥� a former two-time world heavyweight champion and Olympic gold medalist 鈥� was with Paul, a who is facing easily his biggest challenge yet.
Yet Hearn said this is part of a strategy to reignite the 36-year-old Joshua’s career, while also giving him 鈥渙ne of his career-high paydays鈥� for an eight-round bout on Friday that will be shown on Netflix.
For Hearn, a loss for Joshua doesn’t bear thinking about.
鈥淎J will fight against a world-class opponent in February and 鈥� if all goes well 鈥� he will then fight Tyson Fury,鈥� Hearn wrote of a heavily trailed potential meeting with another former British heavyweight champion.
鈥淪o there鈥檚 a method to this madness and taking this fight (against Paul) does not affect AJ鈥檚 legacy. But losing to Jake or it even going the distance would. It would be an absolute disaster and awfully embarrassing.鈥�
Hearn acknowledged that Joshua is 鈥渆xpected to walk through this guy鈥� but predicts that he will take two or three rounds to size up Paul.
He also insisted the fight will not be scripted.
鈥淔irstly, we鈥檇 be investigated by the FBI if it was,鈥� he wrote. “It would be illegal. This is a professional contest and a sanctioned bout where people are betting on it.
鈥淎nd do you think I would ever allow AJ to have a script with Jake? A script where we might lose or even hold him up and look bad? No way. We are not giving this guy an edge or a chance to say, 鈥楾old you I was better than AJ鈥� or 鈥業 won rounds.鈥� This would be catastrophic for AJ and we鈥檙e not going to risk that.鈥�
The fight will take place at Kaseya Center in Miami.
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