The announcement of the Jake Paul (12-1, 7 KOs) vs. Gervonta Davis (30-0-1, 28 KOs) fight has undoubtedly left the boxing community surprised. With both fighters being several weight classes away from each other, the sheer possibility of it happening will be one to witness. But this announcement has come as a surprise for Matchroom boss Eddie Hearn, who was looking to pit Paul against Anthony Joshua. In fact, he has decided to not wait around for the results of the fight to chart the future fights for Joshua.
Talking to FightHype, Hearn expressed his disappointment in the announcement while also highlighting the sheer mismatch between the duo.
“We knew Jake would take a fight on this side of the year. I think I was the first one to say three or four months ago that the fight was agreed between Gervonta Davis and Jake Paul. I wasn’t expecting it to be announced today,” he said.
Hearn’s disappointment wasn’t misplaced; he was eyeing a fight between Joshua and Paul in early 2026. But now, with the announcement of his fight against Davis, that interest seems to have wavered. He mentioned that he is concerned about Paul getting “beaten up” by Davis, which in turn, would change the dynamics and the plans for the Joshua fight.
Moreover, Hearn stated that they would not be waiting around to see the results of the fight in November to plan Joshua’s schedule for 2026.
While there is a massive popularity riding on both Davis and Paul, Hearn finds the entire matchup “weird”, and that is putting it lightly.
“You have to understand the business of it. I hate these exhibitions. I hate these 14-oz gloves. I don’t know what it’s going to be. You’ve got Jake, who is a 210, 220-pounder fighting a 135,” Hearn said while also adding that the promise of a big payday might have seemed enticing. “It’s a bit weird, but I can’t be a hypocrite and say if you’re Gervonta Davis, who is being offered 20, 30, 40 million or whatever the number is, and you’re getting seven or eight to fight Lamont Roach in 50-50, what are you going to do? Maybe the kid is half-checked out of the game anyway.”
“Fake Fight”
As with all of Paul’s fights, this announcement has also pushed fans and critics alike to ponder if it is staged. However, very few have actually voiced their concerns fearing a backlash from Paul and his team, this was particularly evident after Piers Morgan was forced to issue an apology for claiming that Paul’s fights were staged.
But this sure hasn’t stopped Daley Perales from calling the fight out.
‼️ Daley Perales on how he sees the Jake Paul vs Gervonta Davis fight will go 🥊💭
[Via – @thedaleyeffect1’s IG] pic.twitter.com/vKEDMrUG11
— IFN (@IfnBoxing) August 21, 2025
“If it’s not a fake fight, this is what will happen. Tank will use all his experience to force Jake into throwing shots that will bounce off Gervonta’s gloves by using the high guard, also making him miss with head movement,” he wrote on his The Daley Effect page on Instagram. “If Gervonta does nothing for the whole fight and throws here and there with no solid power then we know it’s fake.”
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