Anthony Joshua‘s former coach Robert Garcia has shared his thoughts on the controversial match-up between ‘AJ’ and Jake Paul.
It was announced last week that the two-time unified world heavyweight champion would be facing Paul on Friday December 19 at the Kaseya Center in Miami, live and exclusive on Netflix.
‘The Problem Child’ made his return to the ring on June 28 when he defeated Mexico’s former WBC world middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr at the conclusion of their cruiserweight bout in California.
‘AJ’ is set to work with Oleksandr Usyk’s training team for the fight, having spent the last few years being coached by the likes of Ben Davison, Derrick James and Garcia himself, who was in Joshua’s corner for his rematch against Oleksandr Usyk in 2022.
In an interview with The Ring Magazine, Garcia admitted that whilst he believes Paul is ‘crazy’ for stepping into the ring with Joshua, he says he ‘doesn’t blame’ the 28-year-old for putting himself into the line of fire for such a large amount of money.
“Well I never thought it would [get made]. I never thought Jake Paul was crazy enough, but Jake Paul is crazy. He takes those challenges, but look, he knows that he’s making a lot of money. I really don’t even know what kind of money he’s going to make but I think at least $50 million, okay?
“So look I remember stories when Mike Tyson was fighting in the 90s and we were young and everybody would talk to each other: ‘how much money would it take for you to get knocked out by Mike Tyson?’ Oh I’ll do it for a million. So Jake Paul is gonna get knocked out for $50 million so s**t I don’t blame him, I would do the same thing.”
Most Valuable Promotions CEO Nakisa Bidarian has confirmed that the bout will be a sanctioned professional fight, with both fighters required to wear 10oz gloves on fight night.
The only stipulation that has been announced is that ‘AJ’ must not weight any more than 245lbs, although it remains to be seen whether this will be an advantage for Paul.
