Jake Paul may have some big names on his hit list but he claims that one of the sport’s top stars is interested in making it happen.
On June 28, the controversial star made his return to the ring ,where Paul beat Julio Cesar Chavez Jr after overcoming a late scare.
The 28-year-old has immediately turned his attention to a potential world title fight, with Paul facing off with Zurdo Ramirez after both men secured wins in Anaheim, California.
‘The Problem Child’ has never had a problem calling out some of the biggest names in boxing, having come close to a massive bout with Canelo Alvarez earlier this year.
One of the superstars that he has targeted in the past led to Paul receiving criticism from his former opponent, but it now appears that his previous callout may not have gone unnoticed.
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Jake Paul claims that after speaking to Anthony Joshua, the fight looks ‘very likely’ for 2026
In his post-fight press conference, Jake Paul was questioned about his previous statements regarding a potential move up to heavyweight in the future.
He has previously expressed interest in a potential fight with Anthony Joshua, who is one of the biggest names in boxing as a former two-time unified world heavyweight champion.
Paul said that while he acknowledges that heavyweight would be a big ask, those are the kinds of challenges that he’s looking for.
“I’m definitely not a heavyweight, but I’m still going to take the challenge. You look at Deontay Wilder, he was beating these guys weighing 215 lbs. Granted, he’s 6’6 or something, but anything is possible. I like the challenge. That’s the criticism, people will say, ‘Fight someone in their prime who’s a beast’.” I think people just really want to see me lose. That’s really what the message is behind it all.”
Paul went on to talk specifically about a potential fight with Joshua, labelling it as an “insane fight”.
‘AJ’ may be coming off of a knockout loss to Daniel Dubois but before that, he was able to seriously rebuild his stock by winning four fights in a row by knockout to bounce back from his consecutive defeats to Oleksandr Usyk.
Paul said that having spoken to Joshua, which went as far as a phone call between them, he believes that the fight could “very likely” take place in 2026 with both parties being interested.
“Anthony Joshua is an insane fight, but I want that challenge. We’ve been DM’ing back and forth. He wants to make it happen. He called me up and it’s looking very likely for next year.”
Jake Paul says a fight with Canelo Alvarez isn’t off the table
In February, a fight between Jake Paul and Canelo Alvarez was set to be announced until Turki Alalshikh stepped in and signed the Mexican star to a four-fight deal.
Instead of boxing Paul on May 3, Alvarez defeated William Scull in Riyadh before turning his attention to the massive fight with Terence Crawford.
During the press conference, Paul was asked whether he sees a fight between him and Alvarez ever coming back around for him.
“No, he’s not out of the picture. I think once I get the belts, I’m going to want to fight for the cruiserweight championship and add that belt to my resume. I think he would become a four or five-weight champion. I think that would be what interests him, and that’s the plan.”