A body language expert has revealed what they noticed during the Jake Paul vs. Anthony Joshua face-off after they came head-to-head for the first time ahead of their bout.
Paul and Joshua met for the first time on Friday since the announcement of their Netflix super-fight.
They took part in a launch press conference in Miami, with 'AJ' addressing a controversial rule that is in place for his showdown against 'The Problem Child'.
After fielding questions from Ariel Helwani and the media, Paul and Joshua faced off.
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Joshua towered over Paul, who came up to his opponent's chest.
Ryan Garcia, who was in the running to replace Gervonta Davis, isn't convinced the fight will go ahead as he took to social media with a series of posts.
Body language expert Darren Stanton also shared his thoughts on the face-off as he claimed Paul looked 'nervous' and stated Joshua cut a 'very stoic' figure on stage.
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"Anthony Joshua is the more confident man. Even though he’s got the height advantage, he was very stoic, very still and the eye contact remained constant," he told OLBG.
"Eye contact generally lasts from three to five seconds, but I always say people that hold eye contact for 10 seconds or longer are going to kill each other or kiss each other.
"Prolonged eye contact is a primeval gesture, animals do it.
"Jake Paul is a lot shorter but he does a chin thrust. That’s what Conor McGregor does.
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"He’s tilting his head back and he is protruding his chin. By doing that, he is trying to undermine and intimidate Joshua, but it’s not working."
Stanton added: "Also Paul is the more nervous of the two men because in the opening seconds of the face-off his shoulders move about twitching. That’s the adrenaline going through his body.
"So, he’s had an emotional shift, he’s quite stressed. Whereas with Joshua it’s water off a duck’s back.
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"So, my prediction is Joshua is going to win this because he is the more confident man. He doesn’t need to do anything. He’s got the height, his posture’s straight, he’s giving Paul prolonged eye contact.
"There’s three or four red flags from Paul. He’s trying to come over as not being intimidated, but I think he is. So, he comes over as the less confident man."
Paul is no stranger to facing a heavyweight, having fought Mike Tyson last year.
But Tyson was in his 50s when he returned to the professional arena against the YouTuber-turned-boxer, whereas Joshua is still at the peak of his powers and presents much more of a threat in the ring.
Topics: Jake Paul, Anthony Joshua, Boxing
Nasir Jabbar