Eddie Hearn Reveals Lie That Led to Jake Paul Accepting Anthony Joshua Fight

Eddie Hearn Shares Fascinating Fib That Helped Finalize Jake Paul vs. Anthony Joshua Fight

The only stipulation for Anthony Joshua in this fight is that he must weigh 245 pounds or less at the official pre-fight weigh-in. However, there's no limit to what he can weigh on fight night. This doesn't seem like much of an advantage for Paul, given that he probably won't weigh more than 225 pounds in the ring that night.

However, Eddie Hearn (who is Joshua's promoter with Matchroom) told Jake Paul's team a lie regarding Joshua's weight that helped this fight get finalized, which was revealed in a November 24 article from ESPN.

"I spoke to [Joshua] and he was sitting at 265 pounds or something like that. I think I told [Paul's business partner] Nakisa that he was 290 pounds or something like that," Hearn was quoted as saying in the article.

"[Paul's team] said: 'The only thing is that Jake will weigh about 220 pounds and we want AJ to come down in weight.' He's a heavyweight and hasn't cut weight before. They said: 'Look we're not being funny and it's not that we need an advantage but we need you to have some disadvantage,'" Hearn added.

The implication here is that Hearn told Paul's team that he weighed 25 pounds more than he actually did to convince them he'd need a significant weight cut to make 245 pounds, which could presumably have depleted him and impacted his performance. Joshua weighing 290 pounds would also have suggested he wasn't training, thus giving Paul an advantage in that regard.

Therefore, Hearn's lie helped convince Paul's team to take the fight, which could be something they regret by the time the fight ends.