I was very surprised to hear the news that professional boxing savant Jake Paul will be squaring off against former unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua next month. It will be Paul’s biggest test in the ring to date, both literally and figuratively. The match is set to take place Dec. 19 at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida. The bout will be broadcasted live on Netflix. It is scheduled for eight, three-minute rounds, and both fighters will be wearing 10-ounce boxing gloves. Joshua, 36, is a muscled up six-foot-six, 250-pound British boxing phenom with a highly decorated resume. As an amateur fighter, Joshua won Olympic gold back in 2012 in the super heavyweight division. As a professional, Joshua won his first heavyweight championship after only his 16th pro fight in 2016. Joshua would go on simultaneously hold four unified heavyweight championship belts before suffering his first professional loss in 2019. With a professional record of 28-4 that includes 25 knockouts, Joshua has appeared in a total of 13 championship bouts during his exceptional career. That said, why on Earth does Joshua want to compete against a guy like Paul, an opponent who most people believe is unworthy and not even a real boxer. After all, Paul has no amateur experience, carries a pro record of only 12 wins in 13 fights, and recently competed against a 39-year-old Julio César Chávez Jr. and a 58-year-old Mike Tyson. Besides a huge gap in experience level, Paul is six-foot-one, weighs roughly 200 pounds, and fights in the cruiserweight division, one weight class lower than heavyweight. Joshua towered over Paul at a Friday press conference in Miami. The only physical advantage that Paul has in the match is his age. He is 28 years old, eight years younger than Joshua. Joshua is reportedly going to earn an estimated $92 million for the match with Paul. Joshua reportedly earned in the neighborhood of $7-33 million in his previous bout that resulted in a fifth-round knockout loss in 2024. In the fight business, money has a way of many very peculiar business partners. Aside from the money, perhaps Paul believes that he is catching Joshua at the perfect time. The enormous British heavyweight is coming off a knockout defeat, and he has not been active in over a year. Three of the five main boxing ranking systems, Ring Magazine, World Boxing Association, and International Boxing Federation, do not have Joshua ranked in the top 10 anymore due to inactivity after his most recent disappointing performance. From Joshua’s perspective, perhaps he actually needs a tune up fight against an easy opponent to regain some confidence before he goes onto more stiff competition. Or could it be that Joshua knows he cannot win against real heavyweight contenders anymore, and simply wants to get paid the most amount of money in exchange for the least amount of work? While many boxing observers scoff at Paul, I choose to congratulate what he has accomplished in the sport. Most fighters compete in obscurity as amateurs for many years before ever turning pro. Even as professionals, many fighters never become household names. Paul has found a way to bypass the traditional route and parlayed his social media brand into notoriety within the sport of boxing. I also think he is pretty good and could probably beat most journeymen fighters his own size. That said, this is quite a difference in the level of competition Paul is used to seeing. Though diminished, Joshua does not need to be at his best to be the heavy favorite in this tussle. I expect to see Paul running for his life most of the match. Joshua will undoubtedly try to end the fight early with his extraordinary punching power and I believe he will succeed. I don’t see this match lasting beyond the first round. I just hope Jake can wake up from the coma Joshua is about to put him in.
https://victoriaadvocate.com/2025/11/24/robs-brew-haha-paul-levels-up-in-bout-with-ex-champ-joshua/
Tag: jake paul
Jake Paul discusses legitimacy of Tank Davis fight, legal threats to critics, and fiancée’s Olympic hopes
Jake Paul is just two weeks away from stepping back into the ring, but once again, there’s not exactly a typical opponent waiting on the other side. On November 14, Paul is set to face Gervonta “Tank” Davis in Miami. The matchup has caught plenty of attention because Davis normally fights seven weight classes below Paul, who competes as a cruiserweight.
Although this fight is not officially sanctioned, Paul emphasized in a recent interview with Fox News Digital that “it’s the same deal. Everyone remembers that there’s a winner.”
Paul has faced criticism before for his choice of opponents, such as Mike Tyson—who is 31 years older than him—and Anderson Silva, a former UFC star nearly 22 years his senior. Additionally, some of his previous boxing opponents like Andre August and Ryan Bourland have not been widely recognized names. Now, similar skepticism has arisen regarding Davis due to the weight-class disparity.
However, Paul, who has repeatedly expressed his ambitions to become a world champion and is eligible for a WBA title fight, argued that this upcoming matchup further validates his legitimacy as a boxer.
“I think people have said, ‘Fight someone your age, fight one of the best in the world.’ This is answering both of those things in one,” he said. “And being the underdog with half the internet thinking I’m going to get killed and blah, blah, blah, and proving to people that I can box better than someone who’s been doing it their whole life. I think people will be shocked after fight night as to my skills and how I strategically came in with a game plan and I executed it.”
Paul explained that his game plan for this fight is very different from those in the past. “A lot of it’s focusing on speed, but also just high-level thinking in the sport, ring IQ, not making any mistakes. Not getting countered, not getting lazy at any moment, alertness, all of these things. The list goes on,” he said. “But I have to be the sharpest I’ve ever been for 39 minutes straight, and that’s not easy to do against someone who’s one of the pound-for-pound best.”
The unsanctioned nature of the fight has led to accusations—similar to those surrounding many of Paul’s previous bouts—that the fights are staged, fixed, or rigged in some way. Such claims escalated to the point where Paul and his business partner, Nakisa Bidarian, threatened legal action, notably against commentator Piers Morgan.
Morgan later “clarified” his comments after Paul and Bidarian announced potential lawsuits, and since then, Paul has noticed a quiet from critics.
“People haven’t been talking. And rightfully so, right?” Paul said. “Like, stop lying on my name. People can say a lot of things, but when they’re blatant lies that actually defame my brand—people saying fights are rigged, steroids, whatever it is—that’s where it goes too far.”
He continued, “So, you know, hate on the fights, don’t watch the fights, whatever, but as soon as people start lying, they’re going to get sued.”
After the fight, Paul plans to focus on his fiancée, Jutta Leerdam, who will be competing for her first Olympic gold medal in speedskating. Leerdam, 26, won a silver medal in the women’s 1,000 meters at the 2022 Beijing Olympics. The couple got engaged earlier this year, but their intense training schedules have complicated wedding planning.
Paul has even found that his own training commitments have impacted his ability to support Leerdam fully during this important time.
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https://www.foxnews.com/sports/jake-paul-discusses-legitimacy-fight-vs-tank-davis-legal-threats-critics-fiancees-olympic-hopes