Eddie Hearn hasn't ruled out Anthony Joshua eventually fighting Jake Paul.

Even after Paul announced Wednesday that he'll somehow face undefeated WBA lightweight champ Gervonta Davis next, Hearn remained open to the possibility of the two-time heavyweight champion he promotes opposing Paul at some point.

Hearn made it clear, though, that if Paul decides to move back up to the heavyweight division to challenge the 6-foot-6, 250-pound Joshua it'll have to be a legitimate boxing match.

Though England's Joshua is open to fighting Paul, he won't consider modified rules just to box the polarizing influencer. Hearn conveyed that stipulation to Paul's partner, MVP Promotions CEO Nakisa Bidarian, when they discussed the possibility of Joshua-Paul as recently as mid-August.

"I hate exhibitions," Hearn told The Ring. "If you're going to be taken seriously, then you fight under Queensberry rules. And the reality is this [fight with Davis] is not boxing. It's entertainment and I get it. I can't sit here and say, 'This is disgusting. It's this or that.' It's just entertainment, but it's not boxing, so we need to separate the two. Anything under the Queensberry rules, in a real fight, that's boxing.

"This is just an entertainment format that's just a freak show. And the one thing we said to Nakisa and those guys was, 'Look, if you want a real fight, it’s real rules.' I would never let AJ go in there with 14-ounce gloves or two-minute rounds or all this [expletive]. It's a real fight."

Hearn realizes a Joshua-Paul fight would do big business in the UK. He is less hopeful about Paul actually agreeing to fight Joshua, however, now that Paul committed to facing a fighter who stands seven inches shorter than him and weighed 65 pounds less than Paul prior to their most recent bouts.

Paul (12-1, 7 KOs) and Davis (30-0-1, 28 KOs) are scheduled to square off in what's expected to be an exhibition November 14 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta. Netflix, which will start streaming a docuseries on the Hearn family’s Matchroom empire next month, will stream the Paul-Davis event as well.

Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs), who will turn 36 in October, hasn't fought since another hard-hitting Brit, Daniel Dubois, viciously knocked him out in the fifth round on September 21 at Wembley Stadium in London.

"You know, the fight with AJ [and Paul] was always discussed for February, March time [in 2026]," Hearn said. "So I spoke to Nakisa [recently] and he told me, 'Look, we wanna fight AJ.' But I think this kinda gives you a better reflection of maybe where they're at. But I do think it's a good idea Jake Paul not fighting AJ, because firstly for his health. But to go from calling out a 250-pound, two-time world heavyweight champion to fighting a guy who's 135 pounds and what, 5-foot-7, it kinda shows you where they're at.

"I hate this exhibition stuff and that's what I said to Nakisa. I said, 'You know, if you wanna fight, it's a real fight. We're not doing different-sized gloves or different-minute rounds.' Because Jake Paul and Gervonta Davis is not boxing. With AJ-Paul, it was gonna be a 20 or 30-pound difference - a cruiserweight fighting a heavyweight - now you've got a cruiserweight fighting a lightweight."