Frank Warren exclusive: Jake Paul vs Tommy Fury update, Joshua vs Usyk preview and the rise of Brad Foster

I don't think we're too far away from finding out whether Jake Paul vs Tommy Fury is going to happen next.

I'd be surprised if we didn't know within the next week.

Both fighters want it. As everybody knows, we've been in discussions with Jake Paul and his team for a few weeks now but so far we've not been able to come to terms.

Jake might look at Tommy's performance in his last fight and think he fancies it even more after that - but Tommy could probably say the same about Jake.

I hope it does happen, it would be a great spectacle. But we'll see.

Words of warning for AJ

There’s an old saying in boxing; a good big'un always beats a good little’un.

Anthony Joshua should go and knock Oleksandr Usyk over this weekend.

He should just go out there and impose himself. If he goes out there and starts boxing the way he boxed Andy Ruiz in that second fight, I think he’ll struggle because Usyk is a good boxer.

Usyk is not what I would call a true heavyweight. He’s come up from winning all there is to win at cruiserweight but he’s had to fill his frame out in order to mix it with the proper heavyweights.

But if Usyk is there after six or seven rounds – and certainly if he is still there at the end of the fight – I think they’ll put his arm up. I think he will have outboxed him.

If Usyk does win, it will put a massive spanner in the works for Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury because Usyk’s first mandatory defence for that WBO belt will be Joe Joyce.

They won’t be able to have an immediate rematch for all the belts, Usyk and Joshua. The bottom line would be, Usyk has to fight Joyce. If he doesn’t want to fight him, then he’d have to give up that IBF belt and Joe would fight for the vacant title.

Full steam ahead for October 9!

Saturday 9 October is fast approaching and we’re putting the finishing touches on our show at the Utilita Arena in Birmingham.

We’re waiting on confirmation for Callum Johnson’s opponent but I’m so happy he’s going to be back out there.

He’s a talented fighter and he gave such a good performance when he fought for that world title against Artur Beterbiev in 2018.

He really made a name for himself and some of those TV networks in the States where the other champions are based, they really like Callum. They like his style, he’s an exciting sod!

Brad Foster is also going to be on that card headlining against Jason Cunningham for the British, Commonwealth and European Super-Bantamweight titles and I really like him too.

His story is just remarkable. No amateur background. He’s now won a Lonsdale belt outright, the Commonwealth title and what’s he had? 16 fights? He went under the radar of everybody.

I can’t recall anybody doing what he’s done in such a short space of time without any amateur background, it really is remarkable. Especially at the lower weights, it normally takes much longer than that.

Cunningham is a tough fight for him though, it won’t be easy at all. But it’s one he’ll be up for with all the titles on the line.

He’s a fighting man, Brad. He comes from a martial arts background and he was very, very good at that too. When you speak to him you realise his passion for the fight game, he loves it.

He learns so fast too. I’ve heard stories from the gym of people who’ve been to spar with him. When he was starting out and he was getting clipped, he’d stop the spar and ask the guy to keep throwing the same shot so he could work on how to defend it. He’s really, really into it and he enjoys it. He’s a tremendous performer.

If he comes through this fight, which fingers crossed he will, we’ll get him a bit more experience and then he’s got a chance to go and grab a world title.

It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.

Tyson on top form

I spoke to Tyson last night, he’s just gone over to Las Vegas this week. He’s in his new house that he’s bought over there. He’s keeping well away from everyone and just keeping things close with his team in-house.

He’s terrified of getting Covid and having to go through all that nightmare again but he’s focused and he’s really in a good frame of mind. He wants to get this fight out of the way.

Come October 9, he will have been out of action for 20 months. That’s a long time. And if you think about it, this is what he was saying himself a few weeks ago, he’s only had two active years out of the last five. There are no miles on the clock for him.

I’ll be going out there fairly soon myself and I can’t wait, it’s going to be a great night.