The former heavyweight world champion is set to take on the YouTuber-turned-boxer in a money-spinning Miami bout on December 19 and Joshua's promoter thinks the sport's reputation would be damaged beyond repair should his man lose.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Hearn said of Paul: "He is a top 50, in the world, cruiserweight. He is a legitimate cruiserweight now. I just don't think he's world class and I don't think there's any non-world class cruiserweight that can step up to heavyweight and beat Anthony Joshua.

"Maybe I'm wrong. If I'm wrong, I think my time's up. Not just AJ and me retire, I think we should all retire. So AJ the weight of boxing is on your shoulders, my man!"

The fight between Joshua and Paul has been sanctioned as a professional bout and Hearn is expecting Joshua to take care of matters pretty quickly.

The Matchroom boss said: "I really believe this is going to be a straightforward obliteration. This is a real fight. This is a sanctioned contest.

"It is completely illegal to have any kind of agreement of how the fight would play out.

"Fair play to Jake Paul. He's signed up for a real fight.

"Within less than a minute of that fight he is going to think to himself: 'What on earth have I done here?' And more importantly: 'What am I going to do?'

"There is absolutely no escape for Jake Paul in this fight… You will find out very quickly what this game is all about. And it will not be pleasant for you."

Hearn believes that Joshua will soon make his superior ability in the ring count against the social media star.

He said: "AJ, he's got no interest in hanging around. He's not capable of doing that.

"He can't do it because the minute he smells weakness, the minute he smells blood, he's letting his hands go.

"And the minute he lets his hands go in this fight, there's a major problem for Jake Paul."