Jake Paul aims for upset, Anthony Joshua stands for “old guard” in boxing
The press conference for the Jake Paul vs Anthony Joshua fight card took place at The Fillmore in Miami Beach, and both fighters in the main event answered questions and sent messages to each other leading into their fight on Friday night that will be live on Netflix. Paul (12-1, 7 KOs) is ranked 14th in the WBA at cruiserweight but is challenging a two time former unified heavyweight champion in Joshua. That is a lot but Paul feels that the pressure is not on him to win
“I believe Joshua’s locked in and knows that this could potentially be the biggest loss and will be the biggest loss of his career,” Paul said. “He has so much to lose in this fight. I’ve got him in the corner and I know that those nerves are going to kick in once he sees what I can do to him.”
A number of fight fans do not see Jake Paul having much of a chance against Joshua, and say that it would be an upset of epic proportions if Paul does get the win.
“This is the Giants vs the Patriots 2007. I mean, the list goes on, but the odds are stacked against me. There’s no sporting teams in history that have gone together where it’s this big of a difference in terms of skill, experience, resume, height, weight, etc. So this is going to be the biggest upset in the history of sports and you guys get to witness it.”
Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs) has not fought since last September and has recovered from elbow surgery that took place earlier this year. While he did plan to get back in the ring it was going to be against another opponent on another card. There has been criticism directed towards Joshua for taking this fight and he addressed that topic.
“People don’t like the fact that I’m fighting Jake,” Joshua said. “If we look at the people that don’t want me to be here, but they want me to put an end to Jake Paul’s show, I understand it and that’s why I have to carry boxing on my back with this fight.”
While there is a lot of pressure on him to win and win emphatically, he says that a loss does not completely destroy his career.
“You shake it off,” Joshua said. “I’ll be headlining again in a year or two. It’s what it is. I’m a player in the game. You take some L’s, but without the L’s, you wouldn’t be here, ain’t it? You take some Ws, you dust it off.”
“When I’m ready to hang up my gloves, I hang up my gloves and everyone would say, ‘Yeah, you done well. He was a tough competitor.’ But it is what it is. I’ve taken L’s and I’m standing strong now.”
Photos by Megan Briggs / Getty Images for Netflix
