If Anthony Joshua wants, he can kill this guy,” declared Oleksandr Usyk, getting to the heart of this spectacle. Joshua was last in action when challenging Daniel Dubois for the IBF title last September. Victory would have seen him become a three-time heavyweight world champion. Two months later, Jake Paul spent 16 minutes walking around the ring with a 58-year-old Mike Tyson. What odds then on him being Joshua’s next opponent?
Eddie Hearn is not one for false modesty but even he would struggle to sell this as a £140million masterplan, seven years in the making. It was Hearn who was the promoter the first time Paul fought, on the undercard of his brother Logan’s bout with KSI in 2018. That was the first step of a career that has led to this. On Friday night in Miami, Joshua will fight Paul in an event that will reportedly earn both in the region of £70m.
