Jake Paul takes on Anthony Joshua in under two weeks but has been sporting a black eye from sparring ahead of the heavyweight contest
Boxing fans are convinced Jake Paul will cancel his fight with Anthony Joshua after he was see sporting a black eye.
Paul is due to take on Joshua next Friday in Miami in a controversial heavyweight fight. Paul is expected to be brutally knocked out by the former two-time world champion who is fighting for the first time in 15 months. And the YouTuber revealed he was handed the black eye by Joshua’s fellow Brit Lawrence Okolie.
“I’m sparring a bunch of world champion heavyweights, I think Lawrence Okolie did that to me, he’s like 6ft 6in, 270lbs,” said Paul in a video on social media. Paul is likely to face a 30lb weight disadvantage when he meets Joshua in the ring, even with the imposition of a 245lb weight restriction on the Olympic champion.
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And fans took to social media after seeing the video to doubt whether Paul even makes it to the ring. “Let me guess, he’s going to back out with an injury,” said one, while another added: “Bro might need to pull out.” Another fan said: “Based on those video, I don’t think that fight is happening. Looks like excuses have started” while he was backed up by yet another who added: “Fight’s going to be cancelled”.
One fan went further and said Paul had clearly been “humbled” by the incident. “Someone has definitely humbled Jake, his whole body language has changed. Whether it was that shot from Lawrence or a different one, someone has done it.” Another commentator believes Paul’s team are being reckless when he said: “Out of shape Okilie who is not on AJ’s level… Jake is going to die out there and his team are letting it happen all for money; they don’t care for Jake at all.”
Watch Jake vs Joshua live on Netflix for free
Anthony Joshua and Jake Paul will face off for a heavyweight clash in Miami on December 19. The fight will stream live on Netflix, which fans can get for free with Sky’s £15 Essential TV bundle, the brand’s ‘lowest ever price’ for Sky TV.
Okolie had previously praised Paul’s ability following their sparring sessions. Trainer Joe Gallagher reported that the former cruiserweight world champion had said: “I messaged Lawrence, and he was quite glowing about Jake Paul, on how well he was doing with Frank Sanchez and Jared Anderson. I don’t think he’s gone as far as [backing him to beat Joshua.]”
Paul will take on Joshua over eight three-minute rounds in Miami with the rivals wearing 10oz gloves. Joshua sees the fight as the first of three over the next 12 months and plans to fight again in Saudi Arabia in February before finally settling his beef with domestic rival Tyson Fury in September.
