Anthony Joshua’s trainer Ben Davison is not excited about a potential fight between his charge and Jake Paul, warning there is a serious risk attached to such a bout and questioning the safety aspects of the proposed matchup.

Davison knocked those calling for the fight, insisting that safety must come first and expressing concern that the possibility of something going wrong should be enough to stop the fight from happening.

Speaking to Boxing Scene, Davison said, “I don’t like all that (a fight with Paul). First and foremost, how can people even talk about that? Two, where’s the safety aspect in boxing? Do you know what I mean? There is a serious risk with something going wrong.

“Unfortunately, it might take something like that for people to be like, ‘Hold on, we’ve got to reconfigure this’. But somebody would pass it, someone would allow it, somebody would sanction it.”

The YouTuber-turned-boxer Paul is coming off an impressive points decision victory over former WBC middleweight champion Julio Chavez Jr at the end of June, which saw him subsequently ranked at number 14 in the WBA cruiserweight rankings.

However, Paul appears to have temporarily abandoned his pursuit of a cruiserweight world title in favour of calling out Joshua, with the two having shared exchanges both publicly and privately.

Joshua suffered a devastating knockout loss to Daniel Dubois at Wembley in September last year and has since undergone surgery on his elbow. The former two-time heavyweight champion has been linked with several names for his comeback fight, including Martin Bakole and Olympic gold medallist Tony Yoka.

Promoter Eddie Hearn has hinted that Joshua’s return could take place before the end of the year, whilst a fight between Joshua and Tyson Fury is being targeted for 2026.

Davison agrees that Joshua may need time to ease back into competition following his extended absence from the sport due to injuries and operations, but has not ruled out jumping straight into a major fight.

“I think you have to see how he feels. It’s been a long time – he’s had operations, injuries,” Davison explained.

“It might be a case of he might need a tune-up. Again, in the heavyweights, the landscape can change so quickly, and if an opportunity pops up and you’re ready, you never know.”