Eddie Hearn has given his immediate reaction to the Jake Paul and Gervonta Davis fight announcement.
Before the shock announcement of the contest, Paul was aiming to fight Anthony Joshua in a contest which Hearn labelled a ‘mismatch’.
The promoter had claimed that talks were ongoing for the clash with Joshua’s trainer, calling it a ‘dangerous’ contest following the heavyweight’s knockout of the former UFC star, Francis Ngannou.
Instead, ‘The Problem Child’ has chosen to compete in an exhibition bout on November 14th against the WBA lightweight champion, ‘Tank’ Davis, in a bout which one heavyweight slammed as ‘farcical’.
Eddie Hearn provides thoughts on the Jake Paul vs Gervonta Davis fight as the Anthony Joshua clash collapses
As AJ’s promoter, the Chairman of Matchroom has been exploring options for the 35-year-old’s next contest, which have included a fight with the influencer.
However, with confirmation of the ‘Tank’ fight, he will now have to find a viable contender from the heavyweight division to fight the two-time champion Joshua.
Speaking to FightHype, Hearn provided an interesting reaction to the news of the Netflix boxing event.
He said: “I think on one side 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 now got Jake, who’s a 210 to 220 pounder, fighting a 135-pounder. Bit weird.
“But at the same time, I can’t be a hypocrite and say if you’re Gervonta Davis and you’re being offered 20, 30, 40 million, whatever the number is, and you’re getting seven or eight to fight Lamont Roach in a 50/50, what are you going to do?
“I mean, maybe the kids half checked out of the game anyway.”
After their contentious majority decision draw, Lamont Roach and Davis had been reportedly scheduled to face off in a rematch on August 16th, but the fight fell through after months of negotiations.
It was long rumoured that if the fight had gone in favour of the 30-year-old lightweight champion, he was going to call out ‘El Gallo’ for a fight.
Hearn also spoke in the interview about the collapse of the Joshua fight and provided some interesting comments on the negotiations.
“A lot of people are saying do you still want to fight him, Anthony? It’s like we never really wanted to fight him. We were never really looking for the fight. We were approached about the fight and we would have said yes,” he said.
“Whether they actually ever wanted to fight him or whether it was just for a bit of clout, but if he did want the fight probably does change things a little bit now.
“I just don’t know what’s going to happen. But that’s the freakiness of it. So, I can’t really knock it, but it’s just not really for me.”
Jake Paul’s four-word post about the Gervonta Davis fight hints at Anthony Joshua clash still being the aim
The 28-year-old has courted controversy and big-name fights in his short career in the sport, his most notable of course being the contest against a 58-year-old Mike Tyson.
However, following the bout, he beat Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, which led some to believe he was chasing a cruiserweight title shot against WBA champion Gilberto Ramirez.
So with the announcement of a Gervonta exhibition, it seems unclear what route he is exactly taking as a boxer, but he may still be looking for a Joshua matchup.
In his four-word post on X following the announcement of the bout, Paul wrote: “First David, then Goliath.”
A statement referencing the story where David, the smaller underdog, faces Goliath, the gargantuan favourite, and wins against the odds.
Simultaneously, he positions himself as both characters to hint at the ‘Tank’ fight being a prelude to an eventual fight with the 250 lb former heavyweight king.