Eddie Hearn fears Jake Paul would be too dangerous an opponent for his long-time YouTube rival KSI.
At one point in 2020, after handing both men their professional debuts, it looked as if Hearn would be heading towards promoting what would be a super-fight between the pair on DAZN . But just months after Paul stopped KSI's pal AnEsonGib within a round and had a heated face-off with his rival, the world was shut down due to the coronavirus.
In the meantime, Paul continued to train and compete, and emerged from the pandemic with a 5-0 professional record which he puts on the line against 12-1 heavyweight Hasim Rahman Jr next month. Meanwhile, KSI opted to focus more on developing his music career and cementing his status as a chart-topping superstar with two massive albums and a string of hit singles.
He will also make his return to the ring after almost three years out next month when he faces Alex Wassabi at The O2 arena in London on August 27. But it is widely believed that now the chasm in skill between the pair is too great and that Paul would handily win if they were to fight.
"I think they go back-and-forth," Hearn told the DAZN Boxing Show. "Jake is in a different category now, I don't even class Jake as YouTube boxer anymore, I class him as a real boxer, especially through taking this fight [with Rahman Jr]. KSI's probably not [on Paul's level] because of the training. He's taken a couple of years out, he's come back, whereas Jake Paul trains like a proper fighter. That would be a very dangerous fight for KSI.
"It would be a huge fight, but I think [Wassabi] is probably the sort of level that KSI is comfortable with, it'll be a great fight. But Jake Paul is doing things differently now."
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Hearn put on KSI's fight with Logan Paul, Jake's older brother, back in November 2019, and then two months later followed up with Jake Paul vs AnEsongib. But when coronavirus restrictions cost them a Jake vs KSI fight, Hearn washed his hands of making fights involving celebrities.
He did reunite with Paul earlier this year for Amanda Serrano vs Katie Taylor, which was the biggest women's boxing match of all time. The YouTuber-turned-boxer has taken over as Serrano's promoter, while Hearn has been working with Taylor since she turned professional in 2016.
But their relationship has soured, with Paul since insisting that Hearn is not a reputable character and vowing that the pair will never be friendly again. It is expected that after Serrano defends her featherweight titles against Brenda Carabajal on the same card as Paul vs Rahman Jr that she will enter into further talks for a rematch with Taylor, who is planning to fight at the end of the year.
