Jake Paul reveals what was said during remarkable phone call with Anthony Joshua
Jake Paul has revealed that Anthony Joshua accepted his challenge over the phone after the YouTuber-turned-boxer sensationally called him out.
'The Problem Child' vowed to knock out Joshua during a ballsy rant on his podcast where he claimed the two-time heavyweight champion 'doesn't have a chin'.
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AJ was on the phone with Paul soon after, and the ex-Disney star has now disclosed what was said.
"We're going to plan that for 2026. I talked to Anthony on the phone," Paul told assembled media at the launch press conference for Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano's trilogy bout.
"He called me up and said, 'I saw you call me out, let's run it. Let's make it happen.'
"It's funny, I have said this before, but boxers don't like boxing, they don't want to sign the contract.
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"But at the end of the day, I'm just going to keep on training.
"We do have an announcement next week, but I'm not going to leak anything because we have had these fights pulled at the one-yard line with Canelo and Gervonta [Davis]. So I'm just not going to jinx it."
Paul has had a difficult time landing fights as of late.
An agreement was close to being reached for a showdown with WBA lightweight champion Gervonta Davis in an exhibition bout next.
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However, those plans were derailed when Lamont Roach held the American boxing star to a draw last month.
"It was highly talked about and in negotiations and almost ready to happen," added Paul.
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"But he now has to do his rematch with Lamont Roach and get the win, then we can run it back.
"But we were scheduled to fight for sure."
Before entering into negotiations with Davis, Paul was close to confirming a fight with unified super middleweight king Canelo Alvarez.
However, Canelo signed a lucrative four-fight deal with Saudi boxing chief Turki Alalshikh in the eleventh hour instead.
Canelo's first fight will come against IBF super middleweight champion William Scull on May 3 followed by a blockbuster showdown with pound-for-pound No.3 Terence Crawford.
A rematch with Dmitry Bivol and a clash with Chris Eubank Jr have also been teased for later assignments, but Alalshikh has no intention of making the fight with Paul while Canelo is under his promotional banner.
That leaves Paul scrambling around for a new opponent, and it's looking like he's going to end up facing Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
Chavez Jr has lost six of his last ten fights and hasn't fought for 12 rounds since 2019.
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