Anthony Joshua will box Jake Paul, the YouTube influencer, next month in a controversial professional heavyweight fight.
Joshua, who has twice been heavyweight world champion, will return to the ring against Paul in Miami, Florida, on December 19. A deal has been agreed despite serious safety concerns about Joshua, 36, facing Paul, 28.
Promoters even talked up the match being Paul’s “most dangerous and defining fight of his career” upon announcing it would take place over eight three-minute rounds with 10oz gloves.
The fight at the Kaseya Center will be streamed live globally on Netflix.
Billed “Jake vs Joshua: Judgment Day”, the fight will be Paul’s second live event on the streaming service in just over a year following his record-breaking victory over a 58-year-old Mike Tyson last November.
‘Britain’s Goliath gets put to sleep’
Joshua, who has not fought since he was stunned in a fifth-round stoppage by British rival Daniel Dubois in September last year, said: “I took some time out and I’m coming back with a mega show. It’s a big opportunity for me. Whether you like it or not, I’m here to do massive numbers, have big fights and break every record whilst keeping cool, calm and collected. Mark my words, you’ll see a lot more fighters take these opportunities in the future. I’m about to break the internet over Jake Paul’s face.”
Paul added: “This isn’t an AI simulation. This is Judgment Day. A professional heavyweight fight against an elite world champion in his prime. When I beat Anthony Joshua, every doubt disappears, and no one can deny me the opportunity to fight for a world title. To all my haters, this is what you wanted. To the people of the United Kingdom, I am sorry. On Friday, December 19, under the lights in Miami, live globally only on Netflix, the torch gets passed and Britain’s Goliath gets put to sleep.”
Eddie Hearn, Joshua’s promoter and the chairman of Matchroom, said: “They say be careful what you wish for, kind of feel like that’s all I need to say. Two of the biggest names in the sport will collide on December 19. Whilst I admire Jake’s balls, he’s going to find out the hard way in Miami.”
Nakisa Bidarian, CEO of Most Valuable Promotions, Paul’s own promotion company, said: “Everyone laughed when Jake Paul said in March that he wanted to fight AJ in 2026. Well, plans changed, and in under two weeks, MVP and Netflix have made one of the biggest fights of all time. Now, as only Jake Paul could and would do, he’s fighting one of the most fearsome boxers in the world. Joshua has every advantage in this fight, except one: the delusional confidence of Jake Paul, and if anyone can shock the world, it’s him. This is a global clash between two of the most recognisable figures in the sport: Jake, the face of boxing’s new era, and Joshua, the King of UK boxing.”
This is demeaning for Joshua and dangerous for Paul
The news that Anthony Joshua’s team have closed a deal for the two-time heavyweight champion to box against YouTube influencer Jake Paul is shocking.
The former world heavyweight champion has not fought since he was beaten by British rival Daniel Dubois in September 2024. Joshua’s momentum towards another world title tilt was halted but that this could be his next bout defies belief.
This fight breaks so many codes for the sport.
For one, it stretches the bounds of credibility that a heavyweight still arguably in the top 10 of the blue riband division should put on the gloves against a boxing novice. Furthermore it wrecks the legacy of a British fighter who has achieved so much in the sport after a late start as a boxer.
It is simply a money heist for Joshua, who is too big, too strong, too experienced and – genuinely – too dangerous for Paul even to think about fighting.
Talks are progressing between Joshua and Tyson Fury’s camp for an all-British blockbuster bout next September, which would require both boxers to fight early next year before a London showdown in September. The one silver lining from Monday’s announcement is that the ability to focus on such a distraction suggests the Fury talks are progressing, although it is understood they are yet to reach any agreement.
Stepping into the ring against Mike Tyson in his late 50s – whom Paul faced, infamously in front of 110 million on Netflix, at a packed Cowboys Stadium in Dallas a year ago – is a wholly different prospect to facing the 36-year-old, 6ft 7in, 18st behemoth that Joshua remains.
It also grates against the backdrop that Joshua is being lined up to face Tyson Fury in an era-ending, all-British heavyweight mega fight next summer, in which the two boxers could realistically share the spoils of £150m.
No one begrudges Joshua earning another pot of gold estimated at $50m (£36.9m) for facing Paul and his 50m social media followers, but this is a farce of a warm-up fight for the Fury showdown. It also says something about where his ambition in the division now lies, especially as he has recently been in training with Oleksandr Usyk’s team.
The only reason this has come about is the cancellation of Paul versus Gervonta Davis, a brilliant world champion boxer who is five stone lighter and eight inches shorter than 6ft 2in, 200lb YouTuber. Indeed, the idea of that bout going ahead was just as farcical, and was cancelled because of Davis’s ongoing domestic violence issues.
As for this latest move, Eddie Hearn, Joshua’s promoter, will need to get over the broadcast deal the fighter has with DAZN. If he does, the Netflix platform could see another 100 million-plus viewers watch this farce.
A version of this comment was first published on Wednesday, November 12