A 'circus' or sign of the times - should Joshua take Paul fight?

Anthony Joshua has lost three of his past seven fights and has not been in the ring since his defeat by Daniel Dubois more than a year ago

The clock is ticking on whether Anthony Joshua is going to fight Jake Paul in December.

Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn told BBC Sport on Thursday there is a tight deadline on talks, with MVP promotions aiming to announce Paul's next opponent on Monday.

Hearn has already played down reports a deal is close and says Paul is in talks with other potential opponents.

If the fight did materialise it would represent the peak of Paul's boxing career, whose sole loss came against Tommy Fury, but what would it do for Joshua?

Would Joshua's legacy be tarnished?

Joshua, 36, is still aiming for the biggest fights in the heavyweight division and Hearn says he hopes to finalise a bout with Tyson Fury for 2026.

He has also been mulling a partnership with current champion Oleksandr Usyk's training team, having twice lost to the Ukrainian in 2021 and 2022.

So does what appears to be a money-making tune-up fight against Paul undermine how seriously he will be taken in future?

"Is it a bit of a circus? Yeah, absolutely", says former WBA lightweight champion Anthony Crolla. "I think it's an insane situation, and I'll believe it when I see it.

"It would be a very dangerous fight. If there were some kind of injuries inflicted on Jake Paul, then there would be a lot of people who would have to answer big questions.

"Anybody who knows boxing can't allow this to be built up like it's a serious fight. I think it's crazy, but will I watch it? Probably, out of curiosity."

Whether knockouts would be permitted is unclear - the fight would have to be arranged as an exhibition, unless sanctioned as a professional fight by a local commission.

Last year, Texas approved Paul's fight with former world champion Mike Tyson, who was 58 at the time, as a pro fight but with "certain waivers".

That contest was only eight, two-minute rounds and 14oz gloves were worn, rather than 10oz.

In August, Most Valuable Promotions CEO Nakisa Bardian, who set up MVP with 28-year-old Paul, said they "would pursue a straight up professional fight" - when asked about the possibility of the Joshua fight happening while Hearn has reiterated Joshua wouldn't consider an exhibition bout.

"I don't think it's going to damage his career or tarnish his legacy," says 2008 Olympic bronze medallist David Price.

"People aren't going to remember Anthony Joshua for knocking out Jake Paul - George Foreman and Muhammad Ali fought fad events and journeymen, and nobody talks about that anymore."

A bout between the two, which according to reports would likely be on Netflix, would earn Joshua tens of millions of pounds and represent one of the biggest paydays of his illustrious career.

Paul's fight with Tyson last July garnered 108 million viewers on the platform, with the YouTuber taking home a reported £31m and Tyson's purse around half of that.

"There's nothing really happening in the heavyweight division right now - it has stagnated," Price added.

"Joshua is in a bit of a limbo position, where he doesn't want to stoop down to fight an up-and-coming British heavyweight because that has no upside for him.

"So if he is going to drop his level, why not do it against someone who he'll get a massive fee for knocking out without any risk?

"People are going to tune in because they want to see Paul get splattered. I can't blame Joshua."

Do YouTuber fights help or hinder boxing?

Paul beat a 58-year-old Tyson on points a year ago - in a fight which was widely ridiculed and labelled "tedious"

Influencer boxing matches began to garner high viewership with KSI's first boxing fight against Joe Weller in 2018 and have become more common over time, with fighters boasting lofty reputations increasingly willing to be involved because of the money on offer.

At the same time, boxing's reputation has taken a hit because of difficulties arranging fights at the highest level and the influx of money from Saudi Arabia, which has become a prominent player in the professional arena.

Some believe that influencer fights attract new fans and are helping safeguard the future of the sport, while others argue they render it a laughing stock.

"Jake Paul has done a lot of good for boxing, especially women's boxing," Crolla says. "He is putting on some big nights and bringing new people into the sport.

"I worked the fight he had with Tommy Fury and so many young kids were coming up to me saying 'you were at the fight!', and they didn't even recognise me from my own career."

But the benefits of big names like Paul taking to the ring come at the cost of heritage and history.

"It does make a mockery of the sport," Price concedes. "I watched Rod Stewart's son get knocked out the other day - these things do turn it into a joke.

"The sport has got this far without things like that going on, so I don't think it's needed for boxing to survive.

"But the fact there is a tiny percentage chance an influencer is going to knock somebody out is what makes lots of these people tune in. It's a new generation of fight fans and, like it or loathe it, views matter.

"The old school fighter who got his head down, worked hard and did his talking in the ring is sadly a dying breed."