Joshua doubles down on vulgar ‘kill’ comments to Paul

After being challenged on the comments at a news conference in Miami on Wednesday, Anthony Joshua backtracked about making controversial “kill” comments about Jake Paul.

When Joshua was asked if he would back down against Paul on Tuesday, he replied, “If I can kill you, I’ll kill.”

Due to safety concerns and the size differences between the fighters, Paul, a YouTuber-turned-boxer, has received criticism for Saturday’s fight.

For the “kill” comments, former world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury called Joshua a “classless loser.”

Joshua, 36, continued, “We fight, but it’s my job.” We are permitted to kill.

Although I’m sure many people don’t understand it, my job is to explain it. Simply put, I enjoy what I do.

As long as my hand is raised, that’s what matters, respectfully, whatever happens, happens.

That is the mindset we need to have as fighters, exactly. Other fighters may have similar opinions, I don’t know. They might be a little bit more tame, perhaps.

“The way my mind operates,” It’s dangerous to be in the ring when you’re in it. There is always a chance.

You can go to bed knowing you did your job, but you still have to hope your opponent leaves the ring safely. It wasn’t intimate.

As a natural cruiserweight, Paul, who is a huge underdog in the heavyweight division, responded in a no less incendiary way.

Paul once said, “This is a modern gladiator sport.”

At Miami’s Kaseya Center, Joshua will square off against Paul, 28, in a fight that many consider to be significant and should have been a showcase event.

Joshua must not weigh more than 17st 7lb (111kg) at Thursday’s weigh-in, but the professional contest will be fought over eight three-minute rounds of standard 10oz gloves.

Joshua claimed he has been “called in” to save “boxing” despite the vulgar language being used and references to death that are widely accepted beyond the bounds of boxing.

They want me to end the Jake Paul show, and I get it, he continued, explaining that the boxing is on my back during this encounter.

However, there were moments when Joshua laughed as Paul sang “London Bridge Is Falling Down” to him, and Paul’s prediction vote was cast in his favor.

After all the discussion, Paul ended the conversation without incident by posing in a strange pose, raising his eyebrows, raising his stomach, and even touching Joshua’s chest.

The Jackie Gleason Theater, which hosted Frank Sinatra at his crooning height and Miss Universe pageants during Miami Beach’s mid-century boom, hosted the news conference on Wednesday at The Fillmore Miami Beach.

The grand, traditional auditorium was constructed for spectacle, and it will host a fight that is still viewed as both sport and entertainment.

Some have questioned the legitimacy of this fight because of how absurd it is, with rumors circulating about contractual fine print, including claims that Joshua may not be able to knock Paul out due to how unlikely it is to be to knock him out.

Nothing in the contract, AJ can attest, is. Paul declared, “We’re going to war.”

The Florida Athletic Commission confirmed that no contest knockouts could be canceled.

Joshua joked that the only thing that caught my attention was the money, adding that it was reportedly worth £500,000 when Joshua was presented with a silver chain.

Paul first gained a large social media following, most notably on Instagram, where he has more than 28 million followers, making him an online prankster and influencer.

He insisted Joshua would take him seriously despite never having fought anyone of the calibre of the former two-weight world champion.

Paul responded, “It’s smart on his part.” The biggest loss of his life might be this, and it probably will be.

A victory for Paul would undoubtedly be the biggest upset in the sport’s history.

Joshua’s legacy would undoubtedly be left indelible, but the Watford fan claimed that it would not spell the end.