The Netflix megafight between Anthony Joshua and Jake Paul left a lot to be desired. But boxing promoter Eddie Hearn says there is one criticism that can’t be leveled at the fight – that it was fixed.
Concerns and skepticism around the legitimacy of his bouts has followed Jake Paul throughout his boxing odyssey. Given the bizarre list of fighters that include everyone from Nate Robinson to Mike Tyson, it’s understandable why there would be questions about the legitimacy of the entire enterprise.
But in the lead-up to his matchup with Anthony Joshua, Paul said he would sue anyone who claimed that his fights were fixed, even if it was another top boxer in Deontay Wilder.
Then the fight came and the questions came once again with the lack of punches being thrown and Jake Paul attempting more double leg takedowns than haymakers. The action left even the broadcasters in disgust over what they witnessed. Finally, Anthony Joshua delivered a brutal knockout in the sixth round, breaking Paul’s jaw in two places.
Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn appeared on The Ariel Helwani Show and confirmed that there was no agreement to go a certain number of rounds, no predetermined outcome, and no script to follow. He unequivocally stated he fight was completely on the level.
“Absolutely no way ever. If you look at a couple of the right hands AJ missed with in the first couple of rounds, they would have done the same job on Jake’s jaw if they would have landed,” Hearn said.
Amidst his declaration that the fight was legitimate, Eddie Hearn also said that Jake Paul could find his boxing career in jeopardy thanks to the broken jaw he suffered at the hand of Anthony Joshua.
“The fight definitely went a few more rounds than anticipated from Anthony. But it’s like even now, ‘yea it was definitely fixed.’ Some guy commented today on one of my posts it was definitely fixed. You do know that he’s broken his jaw in two places? He may never be able to fight again. People aren’t really talking about this. People just think, ‘oh you just get you jaw wired, bolted together by a couple screws and on you go.’ There have been many fighters that have had their jaws broken that have never boxed again,” Hearn added.
“We’re not actors here, you know? It was 100% real. There was never any strategy, any deal, any script. AJ wanted to land clean as soon as possible. Unfortunately, the only time he landed really clean was in the sixth round. And unfortunately that happened to Jake. We didn’t want that to happen to Jake, ultimately. We wanted to win and get it over with. But that’s the dangers that he took and the risk that he was in the fight. And we hope he can heal up,” the promoter said.
Who knows what’s next for the boxing career of Jake Paul. Immediately after getting knocked out by Anthony Joshua, he was already calling out Canelo Alvarez for a fight. Given the severity of his injury, it may be a long time before we see him in the ring again. If and when that does happen, hopefully it at least looks more like a proper bout.
About Matt Yoder