Teddy Atlas has shared his thoughts on the controversial heavyweight clash between Anthony Joshua and Jake Paul.
Two-time unified world heavyweight champion Joshua is set to face ‘The Problem Child’ on Friday December 19 at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida.
‘AJ’ will be making his first appearance since he was beaten for the fourth time as a professional by former IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium in September 2024.
As for Paul, the 28-year-old was last in action on June 28 when he defeated former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr via unanimous decision at the conclusion of their cruiserweight meeting in Anaheim.
Speaking to Pro Boxing Fans, top trained-turned-analyst Atlas admitted that whilst Joshua is ‘expected to win’ when he faces Paul next month, the legendary trainer claimed that he isn’t ‘counting Paul out’ as he hints that he believes the former YouTube star could go to the distance against the former heavyweight champion.
“The former heavyweight champ is supposed to go and win by knockout. I understand all that, what people are thinking. But I’ll tell you one thing, with all that, Joshua has been inactive. Joshua was destroyed in his last fight … Joshua has been inactive, we don’t know where he is mentally, we don’t know where he is physically.
“So we don’t know where he’s at, but we know Paul’s young, we know that he’s got legs. He’s got a jab. He moves. Who says he can’t get in there for eight rounds and motorcycle around … What is winning for him at this point? Going and knocking out Joshua which would be unbelievable and unlikely, or doing something no one expects.
“He’s already got everyone’s attention taking on this challenge, and then going in there and going the distance, maybe in a way that no one thought he could … And I’ll tell you another thing, of course Joshua’s supposed to win, I’m not nuts, but it’s hard to completely dismiss this guy at this point, Jake Paul, because he’s picked his spots, he has been awfully smart and I don’t know that he would make that huge a mistake which it seems like he did but I am not counting him out.”
It has been confirmed by Most Valuable Promotions that the controversial meeting between Joshua and Paul will be a sanctioned professional contest, rather than an exhibition bout, requiring both fighters to wear regulation 10oz gloves when they step into the ring in just three weeks time.
