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Boxing/UFC 2018-25

Joshua is not currently in the world title conversation (although probably only one win away from a title shot due to the nature of the division). Arguably, he hasn’t won against a world class boxer for a long while. A win versus Jake Paul isn’t going to change that.

However, boxers are prize fighters. Paul is a massive draw and Joshua is one of the biggest in boxing. The fight will do mega numbers. I don’t see a problem with him taking the fight for what it is. He has nothing to gain, only many millions of pounds.

Ali was part of a similar freak show against a wrestler, receiving a crazy purse in the 1970’s. So hardly a new phenomenon.
 
Lucifer MorningStar said:
It’s already weakened by taking this fight. It shows zero ambition to be at the top of his game and anyone choosing to fight Paul isn’t a serious contender they’re already at the end of their career seeking a payday.
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Yeah, to me it suggests AJ is looking towards retirement. He'd take another massive payday for a Fury fight if they can ever make it happen, but other than that, I guess he's done.
 
Fromtherough said:
Joshua is not currently in the world title conversation (although probably only one win away from a title shot due to the nature of the division). Arguably, he hasn’t won against a world class boxer for a long while. A win versus Jake Paul isn’t going to change that.

However, boxers are prize fighters. Paul is a massive draw and Joshua is one of the biggest in boxing. The fight will do mega numbers. I don’t see a problem with him taking the fight for what it is. He has nothing to gain, only many millions of pounds.

Ali was part of a similar freak show against a wrestler, receiving a crazy purse in the 1970’s. So hardly a new phenomenon.
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Makes me laugh when you see people on social media having a pop at sports stars for doing things like this for crazy amounts of money.
Golfer joins LIV/Footballer goes to Saudi & will earn ÂŁ100m.
But Gary on Twitter doesn’t approve 😆
 
Pin-seeker said:
Makes me laugh when you see people on social media having a pop at sports stars for doing things like this for crazy amounts of money.
Golfer joins LIV/Footballer goes to Saudi & will earn ÂŁ100m.
But Gary on Twitter doesn’t approve 😆
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Think that’s a poor comparison to be fair. Golfer joins LIV he’s still competing against other top level golfers, footballers go to Saudi they’re still competing against other professional footballers.

Joshua is fighting a YouTuber not another top level sportsman/boxer. In this case I don’t blame him for taking the money but he can’t expect people to think he’s doing it to keep his career going at the top level.
 
Lucifer MorningStar said:
Think that’s a poor comparison to be fair. Golfer joins LIV he’s still competing against other top level golfers, footballers go to Saudi they’re still competing against other professional footballers.

Joshua is fighting a YouTuber not another top level sportsman/boxer. In this case I don’t blame him for taking the money but he can’t expect people to think he’s doing it to keep his career going at the top level.
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He probably doesn’t care.
 
Lucifer MorningStar said:
I’m sure there £70million reasons for him not to but he also can’t complain when people judge it for what it is.
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And rightly so. Paul’s last two ‘fights’ were against a legitimate former middleweight WBC champion in Chavez Jnr and Mike Tyson. He ‘won’ them both. If Joshua is in anything like that type of spectacle then questions will be asked. As per my point above, I think Ali was undisputed champion when he ‘fought’ the wrestler. He went on to have a few more top level fights after that.
 
Pin-seeker said:
Has he?
Genuine question.

Personally I’d like it if he just said “£70m to fight a YouTuber,
Who’s turning that down?”
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Well might be nearer ÂŁ50million if the figures quoted from 4hrs ago are right about of being a shared ÂŁ100million purse. But Hearn quotes the higher figure when it was announced.

Fromtherough said:
And rightly so. Paul’s last two ‘fights’ were against a legitimate former middleweight WBC champion in Chavez Jnr and Mike Tyson. He ‘won’ them both. If Joshua is in anything like that type of spectacle then questions will be asked. As per my point above, I think Ali was undisputed champion when he ‘fought’ the wrestler. He went on to have a few more top level fights after that.
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Paul won the last two 🤣. No he didn’t lose them in what was a well rehearsed exhibition the fights were a joke.

This won’t be any different there are already limitations being put in place. Also Comparing Ali to Joshua is laughable and prize fighting made more sense when the money wasn’t what it is now.

Joshua doesn’t need the money but he knows he’s not good enough to fight another top level fighter no matter what anyone says. This is a money spinner and I’ve already said I don’t blame him for taking the coin but he can’t complain he isn’t seen as top drawer against real contenders, he hasn’t been for a long time so why not take the money and run I’d do the same.
 
Lucifer MorningStar said:
Well might be nearer ÂŁ50million if the figures quoted from 4hrs ago are right about of being a shared ÂŁ100million purse. But Hearn quotes the higher figure when it was announced.


Paul won the last two 🤣. No he didn’t lose them in what was a well rehearsed exhibition the fights were a joke.

This won’t be any different there are already limitations being put in place. Also Comparing Ali to Joshua is laughable and prize fighting made more sense when the money wasn’t what it is now.

Joshua doesn’t need the money but he knows he’s not good enough to fight another top level fighter no matter what anyone says. This is a money spinner and I’ve already said I don’t blame him for taking the coin but he can’t complain he isn’t seen as top drawer against real contenders, he hasn’t been for a long time so why not take the money and run I’d do the same.
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Hence me using single quotations for ‘fights’ and ‘won’, but never mind… you’re pretty much agreeing with my points.

I wasn’t comparing Ali to Joshua. I was comparing the situation where they have both signed contracts for large sums (Ali was apparently paid the equivalent of up to £30m in today’s money) for fighting non-traditional opponents. Whatever we think of Joshua he is still ranked in the top 10 by several of the sanctioning bodies.
 
I'm not a big boxing fan. But, looking at it from the outside, it was my impression that Joshua was pretty much finished as any sort of major force in boxing? Had he not lost many of the times he has come up against a class opponent? And at 36 years old, would it not be fair to assume there is a good chance his best years are behond him? I notice he hasn't had a fight in over a year as well.

So, I really don't see the big deal. It is a bit like an aging golfer going to LIV. He is going to get millions of pounds. Why turn that down in the faint hope you will somehow become the best heavyweight champion of the world? And just because boxing purists don't like the idea of it, it is clear that there is a huge demand for such entertainment events. So I can't blame a guy for making the most out of it.
 
Swango1980 said:
I'm not a big boxing fan. But, looking at it from the outside, it was my impression that Joshua was pretty much finished as any sort of major force in boxing? Had he not lost many of the times he has come up against a class opponent? And at 36 years old, would it not be fair to assume there is a good chance his best years are behond him? I notice he hasn't had a fight in over a year as well.

So, I really don't see the big deal. It is a bit like an aging golfer going to LIV. He is going to get millions of pounds. Why turn that down in the faint hope you will somehow become the best heavyweight champion of the world? And just because boxing purists don't like the idea of it, it is clear that there is a huge demand for such entertainment events. So I can't blame a guy for making the most out of it.
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I think that is the key point here. This is not a boxing match, it's an entertainment evening. That's fine, but lets not pretend otherwise.

The bit that staggers me is the numbers. Who is paying to watch this? Who paid to watch Jake Paul v Mike Tyson? We know it's hooeey so who pays to watch it? The numbers are massive so clearly lots of people will pay, I just can't understand why.
 
Lord Tyrion said:
I think that is the key point here. This is not a boxing match, it's an entertainment evening. That's fine, but lets not pretend otherwise.

The bit that staggers me is the numbers. Who is paying to watch this? Who paid to watch Jake Paul v Mike Tyson? We know it's hooeey so who pays to watch it? The numbers are massive so clearly lots of people will pay, I just can't understand why.
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It’s on Netflix, so anyone with a Netflix account can watch it anyway. It’s not a traditional PPV event
 
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