Shakur Stevenson makes surprising Jake Paul claim ahead of Anthony Joshua showdown

Three-weight world champion Shakur Stevenson made a surprising admission from his time training with Jake Paul,

Paul faces the biggest challenge of his burgeoning boxing career on Friday night when he takes on two-time heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua in Miami.

For the first time since turning professional Paul is the betting underdog leading into the fight, and the American has enlisted an all-star cast to aid in his preparation for the eight-round bout.

In addition to his renowned head trainer - Kronk gym adherent Theo Chambers - Paul has also brought in the likes of heavyweight contenders Lawrence Okolie, Frank Sanchez, and Jared Anderson to prepare for AJ's hulking frame inside the ring.

Before the fight with Joshua was announced however, Paul faced a significantly different proposition in the form of his originally scheduled opponent, Gervonta Davis.

As part of his preparations for Davis, Paul sparred with current WBC lightweight king Shakur Stevenson.

Speaking on his experiences inside the Paul camp, the 28-year-old insisted that he is more skilled than much of the boxing fanbase gives him credit for.

"I think Jake is better than people would even understand," Stevenson told the Ariel Helwani show. "A lot of people think he's not as good because he started so late.

I think Jake is better than people would even understand

WBC Lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson

"You can tell he's taking the craft serious, he's locking in and doing training camps and got the right team and coaches around him so he's better than what you would think."

He continued: "I was impressed for sure. I was surprised. When you think of a guy coming from YouTube you would think he doesn't know anything.

"You could tell he had a good coach in his corner, who's telling him the right things. He's listening to the right things. His instincts is like, to not get beat up or not get hit, and I was surprised by it for sure."

Pressed for a prediction on Saturday's clash, Stevenson admitted that he doesn't believe Paul will be able to get his hand raised - but insisted he could still give a good account of his skills.

"I think AJ should get the win," he added. "I don't know how it's going to happen but he should go out there and beat Jake but I don't think it would be a knock on Jake's game.

"As long as he don't get knocked out, as long as he stay on his P's and Q's in there, I think he should be ok."