As anticipation builds for the showdown between Anthony Joshua and Jake Paul, Boxing Hall of Famer Barry McGuigan has shared his thoughts about the fight, and how he believes Paul could easily end up "knock[ed] into next week."
The former WBA world champion believes the mismatch is so extreme that it's hard to imagine Paul escaping.
Speaking in a recent interview with Betway Insider, McGuigan bluntly questioned how the bout even came together without restrictions.
“It’s hard to believe they wouldn’t have signed some sort of caveat,” he said. “How is Joshua being matched with this guy? Look at it coldly.”
McGuigan didn’t mince words when comparing Joshua’s proven power to Paul’s résumé.
“Look at what Joshua did to Francis Ngannou—a giant of a man, built like a tank, who went 12 rounds with Tyson Fury,” he said. “Joshua blasted him out in a couple of rounds.”
The Irish boxing legend speculated that Joshua would have to rein himself in, or things could get very bad for Paul, very quickly.
“[I]f Joshua hits him clean once, in the right place, he could break his jaw, knock him out cold, put him in a bad state," McGuigan said.
He added that Joshua is “in a different league,” while Paul is “not a heavyweight,” describing him instead as closer to a cruiserweight. McGuigan even suggested the bout is so mismatched that it risks becoming "a freak show."
"Anyone with any sense knows that if Joshua hits him like he hit Ngannou, he’ll knock him into next week,” he said.
That concern isn’t coming from speculation alone. McGuigan knows the realities of elite boxing better than most. Nicknamed The Clones Cyclone, he held both the WBA and lineal featherweight titles in the mid-1980s and later built a career as a promoter and analyst.
