British cruiserweight champion Viddal Riley believes Jake Paul is “getting beat up a lot” in sparring ahead of his divisive heavyweight clash with Anthony Joshua.

On Friday 19 December, Joshua, a former two-time world heavyweight champion, will fight the YouTuber-turned-boxer at Miami’s Kaseya Center. The bout will not be an exhibition but rather a professional contest, meaning the result will go on each man’s record and a knockout is possible.

In preparation for this mammoth step up in competition and size, Paul has been getting used to fighting big British bruisers and has a black eye and a broken nose to show for his sessions with former WBC and WBO champion Lawrence Okolie.

British boxing star Riley, 28, thinks Paul must be getting a beating in the ring ahead of the bout, a conclusion he has come to off the back of knowing his hard-hitting sparring partners.

However, he insists this is not necessarily a bad reflection on Paul and his training.

“ I think he’s getting beat up a lot in the sparring,” Riley told The Independent. “Based on the people he’s called in, I think he’s getting beat up quite a bit, but I think that’s giving him confidence that ‘I can take a beating’.

“I think that’s what he’s getting out of sparring – not to get the better of them, but just to say like, ‘I’ve been in there with that world champion and I’m still breathing, I’m still weaving, I’m still here. That means I can do it.”

While reiterating that Paul’s sparring injuries “don’t mean anything”, nor do they “tell us how the sparring is going”, Riley has no doubt in his mind over how his matchup with “AJ” is going to end.

“Obliviated,” asserted Riley, whose management company 258 MGT was founded by Joshua. “That’s what we need to see. A complete erase, wipe out, forgotten type of ‘wow’. I’m not putting a round on it.

 “He’s going to get smoked. Everyone has this narrative that AJ’s big and slow. Like he’s quick, but he’s actually quick. He’s mad athletic, people don’t realise.

“They think he’s slow because of his muscle but when you see him, when you’re in front of him, see him hit a pad, see him move, he’s an athletic person and Jake’s going to be very surprised by that, and he’s going to get banged out.”

Riley, who won the British cruiserweight title from Cheavon Clarke on the undercard of Chris Eubank Jr vs Conor Benn in April, signed with MF Pro – a new promotion affiliated to KSI’s crossover boxing brand Misfits – at the beginning of December, snapped up from free agency following his exit from Boxxer.

Promoter behemoths Queensberry and Matchroom were both after his signature, as well as Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions.

Despite being steadfast in his prediction that Paul will be left staring at the Kaseyi Centre lights by Joshua, Riley harbours no ill-will to the American 28-year-old and respects him as a businessman.

“ I commend Jake and I respect Jake a lot as a person because when he wanted to sign me, the contract that he offered me showed me that he’s a smart guy, he’s a businessman, and he respects my craft and my value,” Riley added.

“I’ll never disrespect him based on that fact,” Riley added. “I didn’t mind him before but talking to him recently and then explaining to him why I didn’t take the deal and all of that, we had a proper conversation and I respect him.

“But I want to see him get obliviated against AJ (on) 19 December, because that’s my manager. That’s good for me.”