Eddie Hearn insists Anthony Joshua will not be waiting on a showdown with Jake Paul after the American announced an exhibition with Gervonta Davis.
Hearn, Joshua’s career-long promoter, has held discussions in recent weeks with Paul’s team over a shock clash for early 2026, however ‘The Problem Child’ has opted to face Davis on November 14 in Atlanta.
Hearn admits the announcement took him by surprise and says he will now plan for Joshua’s career without the controversial YouTuber-turned-boxer.
“A lot of people are saying does Anthony still want to fight him,” the Matchroom Chairman told FightHype.com.
“We were never really looking at the fight. We were approached about the fight and we would have said yes.
“Whether they ever actually wanted to fight him or whether it was just for a bit of clout.
“It probably does change things a little bit now, because if he does get beat up by Gervonta, I just don’t know what’s going to happen.
“No [I haven’t spoken to Joshua].
“We were talking about a fight in February or March [against Paul].
“We knew that Jake might fight in November, again I didn’t expect it to be Gervonta, so I don’t really know how that affects us in terms of would we do the fight.
“The issue is we’re not going to wait until November.
“It’s very likely that AJ will fight [in] January or February now probably against someone else.”
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The proposed meeting between Joshua and Paul was met with widespread scepticism, given the former’s experience as a two-time heavyweight world champion.
Instead, the 28-year-old, who defeated Julio Cesar Chavez Jr in June at cruiserweight, will face the current WBA lightweight world champion, Davis in a bout that will not go on either man’s record.
The pair are separated by a weight difference of 65 pounds, although a weight class has not been confirmed for the exhibition.
Davis had reportedly agreed to face the Ohio man in May, but after being held to a draw with Lamont Roach Jr in March, ‘Tank’ put the bout on hold to pursue a rematch with Roach.
A second outing was eyed for August 16, but failed to materialise, in part due to the 30-year-old’s arrest last month on domestic violence charges.
The charges were dismissed with prejudice earlier this month, but instead of revisiting a rematch with the only man he hasn’t beaten in his 31-fight professional career, Davis has opted to face Paul.
