Former world champion Johnny Nelson believes the only way Anthony Joshua entertains the idea of fighting Jake Paul is if he is looking to cash out and quit the sport.
After beating heavyweight legend Mike Tyson last November, Paul returned to the ring at the weekend to seal a points victory over Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
Chavez Jr is a former world champion having won the WBC middleweight belt in 2011 but his career has tailed off dramatically over the last six years. In any case, Paul’s victory over a legitimate boxer has been regarded as perhaps his biggest yet.
‘The Problem Child’ is now ranked 14th in the WBA’s cruiserweight rankings, making him eligible to fight for their world title currently held by Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez, who also holds the WBO belt.
But Paul also his sights on a heavyweight showdown with two-time world champion Joshua.
Rather than distance himself from the fight talk, Joshua has fuelled it with Paul claiming on Saturday the fight is ‘very likely’ to take place at the end of 2026.
Joshua meanwhile has not fought since being knocked out by Daniel Dubois last September and was set to undergo elbow surgery in May before a return to the ring later this year.
Former cruiserweight champion Nelson insists there are far more pressing matters for Joshua to attend to, with the former Olympian still intent on becoming a three-time world champion with a long-awaited showdown with Tyson Fury also still a possibility.
While he would be ’very surprised’ to see Joshua in the ring with Paul, Nelson believes the right offer at the right time could see them do business.
‘AJ will have more pressing matters a hand,’ Nelson told Metro.
‘If that fight happens I will be very surprised. There’s only one scenario I see. If Anthony Joshua is on the verge of quitting and calling it day and says, “I’ll fight Jake Paul as a cash out”.
‘He will think to himself he can get in there and knock this kid out no problem, get paid a substantial amount and walk away. That’s the only way I can see it happening. But otherwise I can’t see it happening.’
Nelson has doubts over Paul’s desire to share the ring with Joshua, still one of the most fearsome heavyweights in the sport at 35 years old.
‘It is very conceivable, we have seen fighters talk a fight into existence before,’ Nelson said. ‘It elevates the fighter. Do I think Paul wants the fight? Not in a million years. But he is brilliant media machine and he has done the right thing because that is what everyone is talking about right now.
‘But in reality, no I don’t think it will happen and I don’t think he wants that either.
‘We have to give him respect as a young fighter coming through, a young fighter with money who can afford to get the right bodies in the ring that pads out his record. And he can fight now. He’s not as good as he thinks but he can fight. So he deserves some respect.’