Jake Paul says he’s been training with some top-level heavyweights as he prepares for his next fight.
Jake Paul insists he has been preparing for Anthony Joshua by sharing rounds with some of the world’s best heavyweights — but Carl Froch says he doesn’t believe a word of it.
Paul meets the former two-time world champion in Miami on December 19, and in the buildup he has been pictured training alongside top contenders Jared Anderson, Lawrence Okolie and Frank Sanchez. The YouTuber-turned-boxer has even been sporting a black eye as supposed evidence of hard sparring.
Froch, however, is adamant that the sessions are nothing close to what Paul is suggesting.
Carl Froch says Anderson, Okolie and Sanchez would never truly spar Jake Paul
Speaking bluntly, the Hall of Famer said he doubts any of the heavyweight trio have thrown a real punch at Paul.
“They’re not sparring f—ng Jake Paul,” Froch said. “They’re moving around with him, touching him up, a little technical bulls—. They’re not sparring him.”
Froch pointed out that Lawrence Okolie is a dangerous puncher and insisted that Paul simply isn’t skilled or durable enough to be taking real shots from fighters of that calibre.
“Let’s see the footage, let’s see the sparring, then I’ll believe it,” Froch continued. “Every single boxing fan knows that if AJ goes in with Jake Paul, and tries, the fight won’t last a minute. If he hits Jake Paul with that right hand, he might f—ing snap his neck.”
He warned that a legitimate sparring session — or a real fight — with elite heavyweights could end brutally, adding: “Then it’s game over, then it is bad for the sport.”
Jake Paul predicts a mid-round stoppage of Anthony Joshua
Despite the widespread belief that Joshua will dispatch him quickly, Paul has been steadfast in his prediction that he will shock the boxing world.
Speaking on The Pat McAfee Show, he said he doesn’t believe Joshua will be able to land the kind of shot required to knock him out.
“I don’t think he can knock me out because he’s not going to be able to line up his shots properly,” Paul said. “I think it’s going to be a very tough fight for multiple rounds, but then when I figure out his pacing, his style, his speed, his footwork… he’s going to get a little bit tired trying to chase me around.”
Paul claims he sees a specific opening developing as the fight progresses:
“Then I’m going to set up the shot. I’m not going to say exactly what, but… I think it will end in the fifth or sixth round.”
Whether Paul’s bold prediction proves prophetic or delusional will be known on December 19 — but Froch, like most of the boxing world, remains unconvinced.
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