Oh, boy.

You know it says a lot about boxing when we go from Jake Paul scrapping an exhibition with Gervonta "Tank" Davis to pivoting instead into a potential ruckus with Anthony Joshua, and we all think to ourselves, "Hey, this isn’t anywhere near as stupid as that other fight was."

Of all the farcical fights boxing can make — and, believe me, it could book plenty — Paul vs. Joshua is the smartest of the sport’s big, dumb bouts. And both Paul and Joshua stand to benefit far beyond the obvious bank-balance boost this fight delivers.

To start, Joshua solves at least three problems Paul had with "Tank."

In their kickoff press conference in September, Davis looked disinterested. He barely spoke, and acted like he’d rather have been anywhere but a stage with Paul. It sent the wrong message to fans: If he doesn’t care, why should we?

Even before Paul canceled Davis because of the lightweight boxer’s newfound legal issues, their exhibition was already riddled with challenges — not least of which, questionable ticket sales.

When Davis was accused again of domestic violence, it gave Most Valuable Promotions an out. They could nix the opponent and the date, and bring in someone more reliable for a bout at the same venue — the Kaseya Center in Miami — and for the same broadcaster in Netflix.

And few fighters are more reliable than Joshua.

Unlike "Tank," who continues to seemingly bring trouble wherever he goes, Joshua is scandal-free. He has flown the flag for British sport for more than a decade as an Olympic gold medalist who went on to beat the likes of Wladimir Klitschko, Joseph Parker, Dillian Whyte, Alexander Povetkin and Francis Ngannou as a pro.

Joshua is a walking billboard for blue-chip sponsors from Hugo Boss to Jaguar, and only ever seems to generate headlines for the right reasons, rather than the wrong ones.

Unlike "Tank," Joshua is a professional before, during and after a fight. And he’d do his part with media and press conference obligations. He could even weaponize 2024's Ngannou demolition as a warning shot for Paul, promising to rid the sport of circus-fighting as well as its loudest ringmaster.

And, unlike "Tank," Joshua presents Paul a matchup that at least looks intriguing to the casual observer. At 5-foot-5 and 135 pounds, Davis would have given up eight inches in height, more than 70 pounds and almost 10 inches in reach.

Paul doesn’t get those physical freebies with Joshua.

"AJ" is 6-foot-6, weighs up to 250 pounds, and carries an 82-inch wingspan to have sizable advantages over Paul, should they meet for a December dust-up, as is currently in talks.

Speaking to Uncrowned’s Ariel Helwani on Wednesday, Hearn said: “We have spoken but nothing [is] close and I doubt that [Paul] would be so crazy."

But Hearn doesn’t rule it out. To Fight Hub TV, Hearn had earlier suggested his estimation of the American “would go through the roof” if he were to sign a contract “to fight Anthony Joshua.”

And here’s why: “Gervonta would have had a lot of success against Jake Paul, though his size might be a problem. But, if Jake Paul were to take the fight with 'AJ,' he’d have to carry his balls in a wheelbarrow to the ring-walk, because 'AJ' wouldn't mess around in there,” said Hearn, before adding the inevitable. “It would be huge.”

And it would be huge — not just for Paul, who gains legitimacy the moment "AJ" signs, but for Joshua too. It provides a wrong he’s not been able to right for more than six years.

Joshua’s only fight on an American canvas came in 2019 when he was supposed to face Jarrell Miller before multiple failed drug tests forced Matchroom to bring in Andy Ruiz Jr. as a late-notice replacement.

Joshua floored Ruiz early, but Ruiz roared back with four knockdowns of his own, stopped "AJ" in the seventh, and sent him home with the most humiliating loss of his career.

A fight with Paul, sanctioned or exhibition, gives Joshua his American redemption story.

If he does to Paul what he did to Ngannou, then he becomes the one dealing out humiliation on the biggest platform of his career: Netflix.

Paul gets credibility, though, especially if he can outlast Ngannou’s two-round fate. But Joshua gets his first-ever win in the United States, advances his record here to 1-1, and possibly reopens America as a viable market for the twilight of his career.

If a Tyson Fury fight never materialized in Britain, Joshua can suddenly turn to America and replay his knockout footage of Paul, Ngannou and of Klitschko, to push forward with a Las Vegas headline fight against this country's last heavyweight king; Deontay Wilder.

Considering the narrative stakes, commercial upside and global spotlight at play, Jake Paul vs. Anthony Joshua might just be the smartest dumb bout that boxing can make.

Boxing on Yahoo! Sports – News, Scores, Standings, Rumors, Fantasy Games