DAVID HAYE says Anthony Joshua’s car crash fight with Jake Paul will do no harm to his iconic legacy – and talked down safety fears over the “mismatch.”
The two-time heavyweight world champion and YouTuber-turned-boxer – who turned professional only five years ago – are in talks over a shock bout.
AJ’s respected boxing peers – like former sparring partner Dave Allen – have spoken out in disgust over the bout – claiming it harms Joshua’s reputation.
But ex-heavyweight champ Haye – a HighBet ambassador – argued nothing can now diminish the success of and impact Joshua’s career has had.
Haye, 45, said: “His legacy’s secure. Two-time heavyweight champion of the world, Olympic gold medal, world championships, silver medalist, he’s done his thing and he’s left his legacy.
“We’d all want to see how he and Tyson Fury would have went down or even Deontay Wilder. So these are two big names we’d all like to see right now.
“But if those fights aren’t getting made – because it doesn’t feel like they’re getting made – if Jake Paul wants to jump in there, I’ll watch that.”
Joshua, 36, brutally knocked out ex-UFC champion Francis Ngannou, 39, in their March 2024 crossover clash.
So it begs the question, what would he do to Paul, who is five inches shorter, fights FOUR STONE lighter and has just 13 pro bouts?
But Haye warned there will be no lasting damage – as the fight – set to earn both £50MILLION each – will be over before Paul knows it.
Chris Eubank Jr vs Conor Benn 2 – all the info
TIME for round two of this generation’s family feud!
Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn go punch-for-punch once again as both rivals look to make their fathers proud.
The blockbuster rematch takes place at the 62,000-seater Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday, November 15.
Eubank Jr narrowly outpointed his bitter foe after 12 brutal rounds in April to secure the bragging rights in what was certainly a Fight of the Year contender.
And the two British superstars will dance once more as Eubank Jr aims to do the double while Benn seeks revenge after suffering a first career loss.
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Hayemaker said: “He could rupture his eye socket, he could break his jaw, that’s not ideal. But in terms of the long-term brain damage, I disagree.
“I think if anything, he’s just gonna get knocked out like Ngannou got knocked out. He’d have a sore head the next day.
“But outside of just getting chinned, it’s like having a general anesthetic where you’re completely out versus having a 12-round slugfest where you’re dehydrated and your brain’s rattling around.
“The good thing about heavyweights is that the fight’s over normally quite quick and does Jake Paul have the punch resistance to absorb the punishment to keep getting his head rattled? I don’t think so.
“So it’ll be quick and clean and you know he’ll get knock knocked out pretty spectacularly, but usually the knockout isn’t what causes the damage, it’s the long sustained dehydrated beatings.”
Joshua is yet to return since his September 2024 knockout loss to Daniel Dubois, 28, at Wembley Stadium.
But after elbow surgery in the summer, AJ is plotting a short-notice return fight next month, which was due to be against a mystery rival.
That was until Paul, 28, was left searching for a new opponent after Gervonta Davis, 30, was pulled out of their exhibition in Miami.
Davis was accused of domestic abuse by his ex-girlfriend.
She filed a civil suit against him, alleging battery, aggravated battery, false imprisonment, kidnapping and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
So the Netflix event was cancelled – leaving Paul’s camp scrambling for a new opponent – with Hearn putting AJ’s name forward in news that reached the back pages.
He could rupture his eye socket, he could break his jaw, that’s not ideal. But in terms of the long-term brain damage, I disagree.
David Haye on fears for Jake Paul in Anthony Joshua fight
And Haye said: “It’s a crazy fight that makes no sense.
“But it’s gonna get some amazing traction, anybody who’s remotely interested in boxing will wanna see what happens.
“It’s one of those car crashes. You know it’s gonna happen, you just wonder how bad the car crash is gonna be.
“I see this fight in a very similar way then when Anthony Joshua fought Francis Ngannou.
“After Francis Ngannou did some amazing things against Tyson Fury, I incorrectly gave Francis Ngannou so much sort of props going into the the AJ fight that I thought he had some sort of chance.
“But what AJ did was he went out there and treated it like it was a strictly business strategy, whereas Tyson Fury was kind of clowning around and playing in there and kind of lost himself.
“Whereas AJ went in there, took him very, very seriously, and as a result was able to just zap him in a couple of rounds, very, very clear, concise knockout victory.
“If that version of AJ turns up, what can Jake Paul do? I can’t see any version of anything that he’s done in the ring so far in his 13 fights, that shows he can live with him for one or two rounds.
“It’s a massive, massive mismatch, but people want to see it, people are excited, the fact that you want it on the back page means the masses are interested in this fight and I’m interested in it, I’m really interested.
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“I hope the fight gets made and credit to Jake Paul for putting himself in harm’s way, because it’s a tough place to be in there with a big 6’6, former two-time heavyweight champion of the world, Olympic gold medalist who outdoes Jake in every department.
“There’s no metrics where I believe Jake Paul is superior physically or in any way, shape or form to AJ so I don’t know what their game plan is, but they’re gonna need something spectacular.”
