Anthony Joshua's secret scrapped fight revealed after agreeing controversial Jake Paul boxing clash

Speaking in Riyadh, Hearn revealed that Joshua had been lined up to box American heavyweight Cassius Chaney in an unannounced event.

“Yes, we had a deal with a guy called Cassius Chaney, a good American,” he told The Sun.

“We were gonna fight an eight-round fight this weekend… We hadn’t told anyone. We were just gonna rock up on fight night.

“We weren’t going to do a press conference, we weren’t going to do a weigh-in.”

Hearn explained that Saudi advisor Turki Alalshikh planned to introduce Joshua as a surprise addition to the card on the night.

However, talks with Paul intensified.

Hearn disclosed: “Two weeks ago that was becoming unlikely because the negotiations with Jake Paul.

"We had to keep both moving because I didn’t really believe Jake Paul was going to do this… and the eight-round fight fell away.”

Chaney, 23–2, had been set to receive the career opportunity of a lifetime.

Instead, Joshua will now meet Paul, who is 12–1 as a professional. The social media personality’s only defeat came by split decision against Tommy Fury back in 2023.

Joshua, 36, has not fought since suffering a knockout loss to Daniel Dubois in September 2024 and has spent 15 months out of the ring.

Paul emerged as a candidate for December after plans for him to face Gervonta Davis were cancelled.

With other options such as Ryan Garcia and Terence Crawford unavailable at short notice, Paul’s team sought a new opponent with enough star appeal for a Netflix-backed event. Joshua, consequently, quickly became the unlikely frontrunner.

Hearn believes Paul may have convinced himself the timing favours him.

“He’s been out for 15 months, he’s coming off a knockout defeat, maybe his confidence isn’t what it was,” the boxing promoter said.

“But I just cannot fathom AJ losing to Jake Paul… this guy is still pretty much in his prime.”

Despite calling the matchup “madness,” Hearn credited Paul for taking a risk.

“You have to give Jake Paul the credit. He’s doing this because he wants to challenge himself as a boxer. I think it’s a bad move from him, but he’s obviously convinced himself and so have members of the team," he said.

The bout will be officially sanctioned, contested over eight three-minute rounds using 10oz gloves.

Joshua will be limited to a maximum weight of 245lbs. Crucially, Hearn confirmed that Joshua still remains in line for a potential clash with Tyson Fury in September, as part of a two-fight plan laid out by Alalshikh.

“We were going to fight Chaney for maybe a 1/40th of what we’ll get to fight Jake Paul,” Hearn said.

“All we wanted to do was wrap the hands, have a run-out, then go into what we hope would be the Tyson Fury fight. But now we’ll do it with a massive profile. When we smash Jake Paul in December, we’ll be unquestionably the hottest thing in boxing.”