A fight between Anthony Joshua and Jake Paul is in talks for a December heavyweight fight on Netflix in Miami. The details of whether it will be a sanctioned match, the exact date and the venue are yet to be determined.
Joshua’s reputation takes another hit
Fan reaction on social media to the Paul-Joshua fight negotiations has been overwhelmingly negative. They see the fight as a joke, as former two-time heavyweight champion Joshua, 36, takes on unproven cruiserweight Paul (12-1, 7 KOs), who gained his following by being a YouTuber.
It’s a race to the bottom for Joshua, who doesn’t seem to care about cultivating a legacy. Why would Joshua risk his reputation against a YouTuber? The payday that AJ can fight Jake Paul crushes what he can get to fight the less popular fighters like Daniel Dubois, Moses Itauma and Fabio Wardley. What makes it even better for Joshua is that he has a much better chance of winning.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Joshua is taking this fight for financial reasons, as he has been doing so for some time. The rebuilding of four fights against tomato cans below Jake Paul’s level showed that he wasn’t trying to fight his best.
The risk of pitting AJ against the unproven Paul is that if he loses the fight, his legacy will be permanently tarnished. He can’t afford to lose to him without fans seeing him as a fighter who was never as good as he was made out to be. It was bad enough that fringe contender Andy Ruiz knocked out Joshua in June 2019 and came close to being beaten by 40-year-old Wladimir Klitschko in April 2017.
Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, sees the fight as a well-paying matchup that will help AJ prepare for a bigger fight in 2026 against what he hopes is Tyson Fury.
According to Mike CoppingerJoshua and Paul are “finalize a deal” for December. If the deal goes through, Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs) will be the replacement opponent for Jake’s originally scheduled exhibition fight against Gervonta Davis, which was supposed to be shown on Netflix on November 14 in Miami, Florida. The match was recently canceled due to Tank Davis’ legal problems.
If the Joshua vs. Jake fight is made, it will be interesting to see how the promotion plays out. Joshua is not a dirty talker. Hearn and Jake Paul may have to do most of the heavy lifting to build interest in the fight as Joshua is likely to take a back seat as a wallflower. Is the Joshua-Jake Paul fight really going to be approved? I believe it will. If Joshua vs. then 0-1 Francis Ngannou was sanctioned as a professional fight on March 8, 2024. Joshua-Paul will also be approved.
Eddie Hearn’s money machine keeps spinning
Joshua’s net worth is estimated at $240 million. Fighting Jake Paul gives Joshua a chance to get a big payday that could rival what he would make fighting the wilted 37-year-old ‘Gypsy King’ Fury.
In the US, Paul, 28, has a bigger following than Fury on social media, and it’s a fight that is likely to generate more fan interest. Fury is not well thought of by Americans for obvious reasons. He looked terrible in his two fights against Oleksandr Usyk and his match against Francis Ngannou.
AJ wasn’t always rich. So, it’s understandable for him to have the mentality to make as much money as possible, to stay in the sport to pad his bank account, and unnecessarily fight with guys like Jake Paul. Can Eddie Hearn really sell this fight to real boxing fans? With the combination of Jake’s massive following on Instagram, YouTube, X and TikTok, and the event being shown on Netflix, the match will bring in a large number of new subscribers to the network giant who will want to watch.
Last updated on 11/12/2025
