Jake Paul vs. Anthony Joshua might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but Tom Aspinall approves of the bizarre booking.
On his YouTube channel, the reigning UFC heavyweight champion was asked for his thoughts on the Jake vs. Joshua boxing match, which takes place Friday at Kaseya Center in Miami. Though the bout has been met with criticism in regards to what it means to Joshua’s legacy and the sport of boxing, and whether the competitors will actually take the action seriously, Aspinall sees all the buzz as a positive.
“I don’t get the notion that this hurts Anthony Joshua’s legacy and hurts boxing,” Aspinall said. “If anything, I think it does really well for boxing. I think that it’s going to be the most eyes of any fight this year on this. This is obviously a boxing fight. This is a combat sports fight. This is good for all of us. MMA, boxing, kickboxing, whatever combat sports you’re into. Although from the outside it looks a bit funny, I think it rises us all up a little bit.”
As expected, Joshua is a heavy favorite heading into this contest, with the assumption that his size, experience, and power (25 of Joshua’s pro victories have come by way of knockout) will be too much for Paul, best known for his YouTube stardom before he transitioned to fighting. However, for the sake of discussion, Aspinall posited a scenario where Joshua could put himself in danger.
“Joshua does let his ego take hold a little bit and get dragged into a scrap sometimes,” Aspinall said. “That’s what he did against [Andy] Ruiz in the first fight. That’s what he did against [Daniel] Dubois when he fought him a couple of fights ago, so sometimes you start seeing Anthony Joshua get hit with the punches and he likes to trade a little bit too much, which is where Jake Paul could potentially have some success.
“That being said, boxing pedigree, Olympic champion, boxing pedigree, Olympic champion, doesn’t get much higher. Two-time world heavyweight champion. Fought all the best guys barring Tyson Fury. He knows what it’s like to be in there under the pressure against these big massive guys who are big massive punches and he knows how to ride the shots, he knows how to finish a fight. Once he gets guys hurt, Anthony Joshua, he’s absolutely clinical. Big guy, super athletic, loads of power. He should win pretty easily, but this is combat sports. You just never know.”
Aspinall’s official prediction is that Joshua will put Paul down for the count. Paul’s lone loss was via split decision to reality television star Tommy Fury, the half brother of Tyson Fury, and his chin has only occasionally been tested in his 13 pro bouts.
Even if Joshua makes easy work of Paul, Aspinall is optimistic “The Problem Child” will at least make it to Round 2.
“I would say Jake Paul’s going to be on his bike the first two or three rounds. It’ll be hard for Anthony Joshua to get to him because he won’t be doing a lot back, he’ll just be jabbing and moving. And when a big, massive guy fights a smaller guy who’s a little bit more nimble, it is hard to get to him. But I would say Joshua stoppage in the third or fourth round.
“I think Jake Paul will make it out of the first round, I do. But I think he’ll be surviving.”
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