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What started as a casual callout on a podcast has now turned into a real possibility. Back in March, Jake Paul boldly claimed he could knock Anthony Joshua spark out, sparking conversations between the two fighters. In the following days, Paul revealed that the matchup is being targeted for 2026. But while that potential mega-fight grabbed headlines, fans have also been calling for another showdown.

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An all-British clash between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua has been years in the making, with no shortage of demand, but plenty of delays. Now, His Excellency Turki Alalshikh has thrown a curveball by confirming he’s considering a fight between Joshua and Jake Paul instead. With Fury occupied filming Season 2 of his Netflix series At Home With The Furys, and his focus shifting toward a potential trilogy with Oleksandr Usyk, it appears Paul vs. Joshua is emerging as the more likely matchup. In response, ‘The Gypsy King’ didn’t stay silent—he offered a prediction.

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“Jake Paul chins AJ, yes,” Fury said in an interview with iFL TV. When pressed further whether he was serious about his prediction, Fury doubled down, stating, “100%. If they fight, I’m putting a million pounds on Jake Paul.” Fury, of course, recently all but confirmed his return to the sport, having announced his retirement in January after suffering back-to-back losses to Oleksandr Usyk last year. Meanwhile, Paul is coming off a unanimous decision win over former middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. last month. 

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Joshua, on the other hand, suffered a devastating 5th-round knockout loss to Daniel Dubois last year. Regardless, making the Paul vs. Joshua fight even more real, Eddie Hearn has now shared his side of the story behind what is happening in negotiations. “Turki came in and said, ‘I’m going to make that fight’,” Hearn told Sky Sports. “… For us, we want to fight Tyson Fury, but we are going to fight before that Tyson Fury fight because Tyson Fury is not going to fight Anthony Joshua before spring or summer of 2026.”

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While this was a clear dig at Joshua, Fury isn’t sparing Paul either. 

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Tyson Fury makes bizarre callout inspired by Jake Paul.

Tyson Fury never stops amusing everyone with his trash talk. And this time, ‘The Gypsy King’ is targeting Jake Paul. After the latter called out several fighters from different weight classes, Fury couldn’t resist poking fun at the YouTube-star-turned-boxer. Speaking to The Ring’s Mike Coppinger, Fury said, “I like how Jake Paul calls out the full spectrum from featherweight to heavyweight.” 

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“He called out ‘Tank’ [Davis] and Joshua. That’s just crazy. That’s what you call a Richter scale callout,” Fury added. To add to the satire, Fury further said, “May as well chuck ‘Bam’ Rodriguez in there as well, why not? Listen, I wanna come out, maybe fight Inoue or ‘Bam’ Rodriguez next… and why not the old Manny Pacquiao, who fights tonight.

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From the looks of things, Tyson Fury doesn’t appear to be in the mood to let any opportunity go by to taunt Joshua and Paul. However, it’s yet to be seen whether the shocking Paul vs. Joshua fight happens, or Paul will have to say goodbye to yet another lucrative payday. What do you make of Fury’s prediction? Do you think he is serious?

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Sudeep Sinha

4,240 Articles

Sudeep Sinha is a Senior Boxing Writer at EssentiallySports with two years of experience at the ES RingSide Desk. He was also a key part of ES’ 24/7 Paris Olympics coverage, earning a reputation as one of the desk’s sharpest boxing minds. His fight-night dispatches and analytical stories have been featured on major platforms including Sports Illustrated, Daily Mail, and Yahoo Sports. He has covered pivotal developments at both the amateur and professional levels—from USA Boxing’s setbacks at the 2024 Paris Olympics to Ryan Garcia’s PED controversy. Outside of work, Sudeep finds balance in reading, cycling, and debating match-ups and controversies with fellow fans across boxing subreddits.

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Indrakshi Roy

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