On the eve of Jake Paul vs Anthony Joshua, promoter Eddie Hearn has confirmed the size of the ring that will be used for Friday’s fight – and it has become a major talking point.
There are certain stipulations in place as natural cruiserweight Paul moves up to heavyweight. For the first time in his career, Joshua has a strict contracted weight limit ahead of the eight-round bout.
The 36-year-old, who weighed just over 252lbs for his fight against Daniel Dubois last year, cannot weigh more than 245lbs, although there is no restriction on how much weight he can put on after the official weigh-in.
JUST IN: “He’s looking for him”: Gervonta Davis offered chance to fight for w
As well as AJ’s weight, Eddie Hearn was recently asked about the specific rules for this weekend’s clash.
“Same as any professional fight, you know, and we wouldn’t do anything different, which is eight rounds, 10 ounce gloves, eight three minute rounds,” Hearn told Forbes. “The weight is 245 pounds, but that’s just because Jake’s coming up from cruiserweight.”
Joshua’s team had ‘no interest’ in anything other than legitimate professional boxing rules, according to Hearn.
Eddie Hearn confirms ring size for Jake Paul vs Anthony Joshua
With two days until fight night, Hearn has confirmed to IFL TV that the ring size for Jake Paul vs Anthony Joshua will be 22×22 feet, which is bigger than the standard size for professional bouts, which is 20×20 feet.
Here’s how fans on social media reacted to the news.
One said: “More space for Jake Paul to run away into. AJ with 10oz gloves he better move quick,” while a second commented: “Yeah so Jake Paul can run away around the ring and try avoid Joshua’s right hand.”
A third wrote: “I doubt a 21% bigger ring is going to make that much of a difference. It might let Jake run around a bit more freely but the issue is, for Jake to be in range, he has to also be in range for AJ. He’s screwed either way.”
A fourth said: “Plenty of space for Jake Paul to hide,” and a fifth added: “There will be a lot of running.”
