Eddie Hearn has made a bold promise about the future of his and Anthony Joshua's career ahead of his bout with Jake Paul.
In an almost unbelievable turn of events, YouTuber-turned-boxer Paul will enter the ring to face former two-time world heavyweight world champion Joshua on December 19.
The pair will clash inside the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida, with the bout marking the first time that Joshua has fought since his devastating knockout loss to fellow British heavyweight Daniel Dubois in September last year.
Despite the massive gulf in experience between the pair, Paul remains, by his own admission, delusional that he will pull off a spectacular underdog win and launch himself into the heavyweight title picture.
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And it appears that Hearn, Joshua's long-time promoter, has already laid out a brutal plan for both him and the British boxer should he fail to beat Paul next month.
Throughout boxing history, it's widely consider that James Buster Douglas shock win over an unbeaten Mike Tyson back in February 1990 is the biggest upset in the history of the sport.
However, Hearn has admitted that if Paul somehow is to beat Joshua in Miami, it will massively overshadow Douglas' win and force both the promoter and AJ into retirement.
Speaking to SunSport, he said: “Of course, this is a top 50 or 60 cruiserweight in the world stepping up and fighting a top – even if you wanna be really critical top 10 – but I think top 5 heavyweight in the world.
“So it would be unthinkable. I mean, both AJ and myself would need to retire from the sport if we got beat against Jake. But it ain’t happening.”
But Paul clearly thinks that he is more than capable of using his smaller size to his advantage and will be more than capable of picking up an unlikely win.
Speaking during the press conference for the fight, he said: "I have gotten to where I am today because of delusional optimism. It's delusion until it's not. It's got me to where I am today.
"No one ever thought that this would be possible, that we would be here when I first started boxing, and no one thinks I'm going to win. So join the list and be ready to be shocked."
"Self-belief is the most powerful thing in the world, and it's been there since my first fight," Paul added.
"I want him to cut me up, I want him to break my face, but guess what, he's gonna have to kill me to stop me, and I'm ready to die. Seriously, ready to die in the ring to win this fight."
Topics: Anthony Joshua, Jake Paul, Boxing, Eddie Hearn, Heavyweight Boxing
Ben McCrum