Anthony Joshua’s been here before. Jake Paul hasn’t.
Joshua has been handpicked by a non-boxer, who while respectful of the former unified heavyweight champion’s resume, perhaps overestimated his own in-ring pedigree.
That victim was a former UFC champion, Francis Ngannou, who was one of the most feared heavyweights across combat sports, who faced Joshua on March 8, 2024, and was knocked out in fearful fashion by an overhand right in the second round.
Paul is not that.
And the 6-foot-1 Paul has been in a boxing ring about a dozen times already professionally — but he’s never been here before — not even close.
Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs) and Paul (12-1, 7 KOs) will fight on Dec. 19 at the Kaseya Center in Miami, a bout made official this week, as Paul and Most Valuable Promotions decided to move on from the previously scheduled November 14 exhibition with WBA Lightweight Champion Gervonta “Tank” Davis.
Paul, 28, is 6-foot-1 with a 76-inch reach — or a 6-foot-4 wingspan.
Joshua, 35, is 6-foot-6 with an 82-inch reach — a 6-foot-10 wingspan.
“I’m going to impose myself, come forward and land heavy punches,” Joshua said of his straightforward strategy at Friday’s press conference. “I’m going to make sure, expose him to certain tricks in boxing he may not have seen yet. I’m going to bring him to another school of boxing that I don’t think he’s been exposed to yet.”
Joshua, who has put the sport on his shoulders before, also noted, “I need to knock him out.”
Paul acknowledged that Joshua is his toughest challenge yet. And he’s not being hyperbolic or merely selling the fight.
He’s right, and it’s by a continent-sized margin.
“I like to challenge myself,” Paul said confidently. “I like to take on the biggest, the best. I said anyone, anytime, any place — I truly mean that. No one ever thought that this would be possible, that we would be here when I first started boxing, and no one thinks I’m going to win. So join the list and be ready to be shocked.”
Paul added of Joshua: “He’s one of the best heavyweights ever — all of that power is great, and he’s knocked people out. I just have to avoid that one shot for eight rounds, and I believe that I can do that… People say, ‘Oh, I respect Jake Paul for getting in there.’ No, respect me because I’m about to win.”
The previous Paul-Davis encounter wasn’t drawing the interest the event’s puppet masters had hoped and team MVP was seemingly given an out when Davis — again — was accused of domestic violence in a civil lawsuit.
Davis’ ex-girlfriend Courtney Rossel cited the still reigning World Champion for aggravated battery, false imprisonment, kidnapping and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
TMZ reported that Davis even threatened to kill her.
So naturally, Paul moved on and offered ESPN a wishlist of replacement opponents, where Joshua was the most dangerous name placed.
Prior to the aforementioned Ngannou-Joshua bout, the former UFC title-holder went the distance with then Lineal and WBC Heavyweight Champion Tyson Fury, who eked out a narrow split decision and who clearly didn’t take the fight seriously.
Fury weighed 277 and 3/4 pounds for his crossover fight with Ngannou, the heaviest of his career to that point, looking sluggish, vulnerable and unserious until getting stunningly dropped in the third round.
Joshua took Ngannou seriously and obliterated him in two; he plans on doing the same for Paul.
“I take it seriously,” Joshua said. “He’s a conqueror; his mentality is solid. It’s better than Tyson Fury’s – he’s sitting here. So I take him seriously and give him the respect he deserves mentally in preparation.”
Joshua, a former multiple-time Unified Heavyweight Champion, has been knocked out twice in his career, most recently in his last bout against heavy underdog Daniel Dubois for the IBF title in September of 2024.
Paul was last in the ring in June, outpointing former World Middleweight Champion and boxing purist punchline in Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., his most notable win to date.
Also noteworthy: Joshua will be training with the team of Oleksandr Usyk in preparation for this fight.
Usyk, the undefeated best heavyweight in the world, was the Undisputed World Heavyweight Champion before vacating the WBO title this week, and previously defeated Joshua by decision in both 2022 and 2023.
