Nakisa Bidarian: Jake Paul only lost to Anthony Joshua ‘because of the size difference’

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Nakisa Bidarian believes Jake Paul proved how great a boxer he is.

On Friday, Paul faced off with Olympic gold medalist and two-time heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua in a heavyweight boxing match in Miami, broadcast live on Netflix. Though Paul lost by knockout and had his jaw broken for good measure, he managed to survive for nearly six rounds against one of the most dangerous boxers in the world, one that outweighed him by nearly 30 pounds, which is an achievement in its own right.

“Ultimately, Jake Paul lasted a lot longer than anyone said he was going to,” Bidarian, who co-founded Most Valuable Promotions with Paul, said in the post-fight press conference. “And I haven’t seen the official scorecards, I don’t know if anyone else has, but I think he might have won a round or two, or three. He was doing tremendously well in there against a person who is vastly more skilled, vastly larger, vastly more powerful, and he did it on four weeks’ preparation.”

The fight between Paul and Joshua came together on relatively short notice. Originally, Paul was set to face lightweight champion Gervonta Davis in an exhibition match in November, before a civil suit against Davis for domestic abuse upended the bout, leading to the shift in date and opponent. Going from a lightweight to a heavyweight was obviously a big shift for Paul’s preparation and, according to Bidarian, is the reason Paul lost.

“I think a great, great game plan and preparation, unbelievable heart,” Bidarian said. “And the reality is, Jake lost because of the size difference, not because of the skill difference. AJ was hanging on that neck, pushing him down, and when you have someone that heavy constantly doing that, it does suck the energy out of you. AJ talked about taking out the man’s soul; he didn’t take out his soul. He did take out his energy, and that’s when he was able to get the finish.”

For his part, Paul seems to be taking the loss in good spirits, posting to social media that he’s OK, despite having broken his jaw in two places. And now, Bidarian says, all of Paul’s haters have to finally give him the respect he’s earned in the ring.

“I saw a lot of comments, particularly from the U.K., about, ‘Jake Paul is a novice boxer and shouldn’t be in the ring with Anthony Joshua,’” Bidarian said. “He took some rounds from Anthony Joshua. It took Anthony Joshua six rounds to put out a man who has been in the sport for six years and took on the challenge in four weeks. So put some respect on Jake Paul’s name in the U.K. Thank you.”