Jake Paul v Anthony Joshua: what you need to know

Source: Radio New Zealand

Jake Paul v Anthony Joshua

Main event around 4pm Saturday 20 December

Kaseya Center, Miami

Live blog updates on RNZ

Farce or fight? We’re going to find out on Saturday afternoon when internet personality-turned boxer Jake Paul faces easily the toughest test of his life against former world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua. Both men have predicted knockouts, which is certainly more believable coming from Joshua considering not only his extensive experience in the division but also weight advantage.

There are some concerns over just how legitimate the action will be, given the fact that Paul is such a massive underdog and Joshua is still very much in the proper heavyweight title picture. But this is boxing, it’s not like any of this is particularly new and the interest is certainly there given there is no big Riyadh Season card happening now like in previous years.

Why is this even happening

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Aside from the aforementioned lack of heavyweight action since Oleksandr Usyk defended his titles against Daniel Dubois in July, the main motivation for many watching is to see Jake Paul get beaten up. Along with brother Logan, who has fashioned himself a very successful career as a professional wrestler, Paul has very successfully leveraged his persona as a loathsome ‘influencer’ into the sports world.

Of course, this ultimately comes down to money and whatever you think about him, Paul is a major draw. His bout last year against Mike Tyson generated an estimated 78 million viewers on streaming service Netflix.

Meanwhile, the lure of a massive payday has obviously been too much for Joshua to turn down. He is purportedly on a trajectory to face Tyson Fury in the long-awaited next instalment of the ‘Battle of Britain’ at some point next year, despite Fury being currently retired, and this will at least serve as a useful tuneup before the build towards that gets underway.

Jake Paul’s record

Paul’s most notable victory was last year against heavyweight legend Mike Tyson, although it’s worth noting that not only was Tyson 58 at the time, but there have been numerous claims that the fight was rigged anyway.

It’s not like Paul is a complete bunny. He has had an active heavyweight career since 2018 and has beaten a serious of UFC fighters in Tyron Woodley, Anderson Silva, Nate Diaz and Mike Perry. However it is telling that the only proper boxer he’s faced, Tommy Fury, won their eight round bout in a split decision.

Anthony Joshua’s record

This will be Joshua’s first fight since being knocked out by Daniel Dubois in September of last year. That result sent shockwaves through the heavyweight division, propelling Dubois to an ultimately unsuccessful title shot, and also leaving Joshua in limbo till now.

Before then, the Briton was seen as the potential face of the sport after racking up a 22-0 record and taking the WBO world title off Joseph Parker in 2018. Attempts to unify the titles in a blockbuster fight with Deontay Wilder never materialised and then Joshua suffered a shock loss to Andy Ruiz in 2019.

Since then, Joshua has lost twice to the unstoppable Usyk, then looked to have regained momentum before losing to Dubois.

Tale of the tape

‘The Problem Child’ Jake Paul

Record: 13-1 (7 KO)

Age: 28

From: Cleveland, Ohio

Height: 6’1″ (186cm)

Anthony Joshua

Record: 28-4 (25 KO)

Age: 36

From: Watford, UK

Height: 6’6″ (201cm)

What they’re saying

“I’m a very respectful guy, brought up by a good family, but if I can kill you, I will kill you. That’s just how I am. This is just the job I do, so let’s go.” – Anthony Joshua.

“Let’s put on a show for the fans. Let’s go to war. Men have done crazier things throughout human history. This is a modern-day gladiator sport. This is what we’re here to do is f*** each other up and I’m ready. I want his hardest punches. I want there to be no excuses when it’s all said and done and let’s kill each other.” – Jake Paul.

‘I think the fight is scripted, I think his [Paul’s] fights in general have been scripted before. That’s just my strong opinion. It could be what it is and what we see is what we get. But I really think it’s scripted, you know.’ – Former world heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder.

What’s going to happen

Great question. If the claims about fixing are true then we should get something similar to last year’s Paul v Tyson fight, albeit with the result reversed as Joshua cannot afford to have another loss.

But if this is for real, there better be some paramedics on standby because this could get dangerous for Paul. Joshua has 25 knockouts against serious opponents so Paul’s gameplan should just be to survive more than anything else, and potentially score some points if Joshua lowers his guard.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand