The public believes that Anthony Joshua is putting his career and the potential for future fights in jeopardy with his fight next month against Jake Paul. Aside from the $80 million+ that Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs) is expected to earn for the eight-round bout against Paul (12-1, 7 KOs), he could be throwing away his future.
Joshua will be at a disadvantage against Paul in their eight-round, Netflix-streamed fight on December 19 at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida.
AJ’s problems:
- 245-lb catch weight: Joshua needs to lose weight for this fight to compete at catchweight. He hasn’t fought under 250 pounds since his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk in 2022. Joshua lost that fight and looked weak.
- Punch resistance: At 36, Joshua’s chin is effectively gone, as he showed in his knockout loss to Daniel Dubois in September 2024. Prior to that defeat, Joshua had done a good job with the help of his promoter, Eddie Hearn, of disguising his weakened lower jaw by fighting soft opposition. Now, against the short but powerful Jake Paul, AJ is going to be in danger. There will be no protection in this battle. He is in the wild in this competition.
All it will take for former two-time heavyweight champion Joshua is to turn a lackluster effort into being forced to go the full eight rounds before it causes his stock to drop further. He is already coming off a fifth round knockout loss to Daniel Dubois a little over a year ago.
An underwhelming performance against YouTuber boxer Paul or a knockout defeat would ruin these chances for the much-anticipated fight against Tyson Fury. At 36, it would be impossible for Joshua to bounce back from a loss or a poor performance against Jake to save what promoter Eddie Hearn is calling the ‘Battle of Britain’ against ‘The Gypsy King’ Fury.
There will be a lot of fans coming out of the woodwork afterwards saying, ‘I told you so’ when Joshua loses to Paul.
Last updated on 30/11/2025
