Eddie Hearn DMs Jake Paul to Fight AJ This Year – Gets Left on Read!

By Lewis Barnett 3 April, 2025 6 mins read 22 Views

Jesus Christ. The absolute BALLS on Eddie Hearn to slide into Jake Paul's DMs challenging him to fight Anthony Joshua THIS year instead of 2026. And what happened? The YouTube star just left him on read. Savage.

I nearly spit out my coffee when I heard this. Eddie's sitting there, probably feeling pretty clever with his little message, and Jake's just like... *crickets*. Not even a courtesy "lol no" response. Poor Eddie.

Audio Summary of the Article

What the hell is Jake Paul thinking?

So here's teh deal - Paul (yeah, the YouTuber who somehow convinced 100 MILLION people to watch him box a 58-year-old Mike Tyson) has apparently been having private conversations about fighting AJ in 2026. Not next month. Not this summer. Not even next year. TWO YEARS from now.

Nakisa Bidarian (Paul's promotional partner who I met briefly at a boxing event in Vegas back in 2022 - nice guy, terrible taste in ties) confirmed to The Sun: "I think Eddie Hearn even DMd Jake and said, 'Why not in 2025?' And I'm sure Jake didn't respond to him."

Didn't respond. Ouch.

Eddie's BS Detector is Blaring

Listen. Eddie's not buying any of this 2026 timeline nonsense. He told The Sun: "Once they said 2026, it's just clickbait at that point."

But then he added something interesting: "I do acknowledge that Jake is crazy enough, like the Canelo stuff was quite crazy. But at least Jake's bigger than Canelo. He's dwarfed by AJ in every manner."

I remember watching AJ demolish guys back in 2018 and thinking nobody would willingly step in with that man unless they were getting paid SERIOUS money. And now we've got a YouTuber calling him out? What timeline are we living in?

The Injury Nobody's Talking About

Worth mentioning that Joshua (35) hasn't fought since getting knocked out by Daniel Dubois last September. He's also dealing with some injury that's pushed back his return date.

I texted my buddy who works at Matchroom last week about this, and his response: "AJ's taking his time. Smarter than rushing back half-healed." Fair enough.

The Canelo Situation Still Stings

Paul (28) almost had a fight with Canelo lined up for May 3rd in Vegas. I'd bet my left kidney that would've been the highest-grossing boxing match of the year. But Canelo walked away at the last minute to sign some massive four-fight deal with the Saudis.

Dammit. I had already requested press credentials for that one. Wasted an entire afternoon filling out forms for nothing.

That's boxing for ya.

So... is AJ vs Paul actually happening?

Bidarian thinks it's "100 per cent realistic" for next year. He went on this whole spiel about power and reach advantages that honestly made me zone out a bit. The guy can talk, I'll give him that.

But here's the money quote from him: "Jake hasn't been in the ring with someone that has the power that Joshua has in this current time. Mike Tyson, much more devastating knockout artist than Anthony Joshua in his career, but the Mike Tyson Jake fought wasn't that same Mike Tyson, obviously."

No shit, Sherlock. The Tyson that Paul fought was nearly 60.

I spent $4K on a ticket to watch Paul vs Tyson in person (don't tell my wife), and while it was a spectacle, it wasn't exactly prime Iron Mike in there. Joshua would be a completely different animal.

But apparently Paul "doesn't say something if he doesn't feel confident about it." The smartass even admits there are guys he WON'T fight - like David Benavidez - because he knows he'd get demolished.

I feel stupid now for doubting this might actually happen. Boxing has become such a circus that literally nothing would surprise me anymore. If you told me next week that Taylor Swift was challenging Tyson Fury, I'd just ask for the odds.

Remember when these two met?

There's actually a photo of AJ and Jake together from 2022, both flexing in laser tag vests like a couple of dorks. Who could've predicted that two years later they'd be negotiating a potential mega-fight?

Not me.

And definitely not Eddie Hearn, who's still waiting for that DM response.

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Professional boxers typically train 4 to 6 hours per day, 5 to 6 days a week, depending on their fight schedule.
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How To

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