Jake Paul vs Anthony Joshua: British heavyweight star issued with weight limit ahead of surprise showdown in Miami
Jake Paul has taken by far the biggest risk of his boxing career against Anthony Joshua, but how did the fight come about and what are the details?
Paul will share the ring with former two-time unified world champion Joshua in an eight-round sanctioned fight at the Kaseya Center in Florida, on Friday December 19 in the States but in the early hours of Saturday December 20 UK time.
The YouTuber turned boxer had been set to face Gervonta Davis on November 14, but the fight was cancelled after a civil lawsuit was filed against the world lightweight champion, and Paul will instead take on Joshua.
In his only fight at heavyweight, Paul wore 14oz gloves against Mike Tyson, while he was set to wear 12oz gloves for a cancelled bout against Gervonta Davis, but both he and Joshua will be using 10oz gloves, the regulation weight for a professional heavyweight.
Paul holds a 12-1 fight record, including wins over Tyson, former world champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jnr, and ex-UFC champions such at Nate Diaz and Anderson Silva, while his sole loss came against Tommy Fury by split decision in 2023.
Joshua has twice become a world heavyweight king and claimed victories over Wladimir Klitschko and Alexander Povetkin in his 28-4 record that features losses to Oleksandr Usyk, Daniel Dubois and Andy Ruiz Jr.
Nakisa Bidarian, CEO of Most Valuable Promotions, who represent Paul, has answered some key questions about the fight.
How did this fight come about?
“Jake thought of this in March of this year and said ‘I want to fight Anthony Joshua’. People laughed then.
“I was here at Sky Sports in July and the question was asked whether we saw this happening. Our plan was to do this in March, April of 2026.
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“The plans have changed and Jake stood up and said, ‘I want to face Joshua now’.”
“The two of them spoke about this back in March and said we want to do this. When the opportunity arose, they were the ones that drove the conversation to say, yes, we want to do this for boxing.
“Our biggest priority wasn’t Jake Paul getting a fight. Our biggest priority was the other fighters on the card, who’d been training hard for this massive moment, and that’s what we put together.
“Then Matchroom and [Joshua’s promoter] Eddie Hearn were great partners throughout the process.”
Why is Paul the A-side of the match-up?
“I think it was fitting.
“Jake just had the biggest event in history last year, in terms of streaming viewership, with 125 million viewers. Joshua’s been out for over a year and a half.
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“Our platform, which is Netflix, and it’s our company, Most Valuable Promotions, so it’s Jake versus Joshua.”
Why is Paul taking a risk against a huge puncher like AJ?
“This is a more dangerous fight than Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis, but it’s a more winnable fight.
“Gervonta was small, fast, super skilled. Joshua is big, a heavy puncher, but not as evasive. I think if Jake has the right game plan, he has a pretty good shot of winning this fight.
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“You have to look at the experience that Jake has gained in the five years he’s been in the sport. To be in your 12th or 13th fight, in front of 80,000 people at AT&T Stadium in front of 125 million viewers, is not experience you can gain normally.
“He’s going to go into that event very calm and very composed. I fully believe that he does 100 per cent think he’s going to beat Anthony Joshua.”
Is there a weight limit for this fight?
“There’s a lot of discussion around the weight.
Anthony Joshua has been issued with a weight limit
“Joshua fought Usyk twice and both of those times Usyk was 221 pounds. Joshua was 240 to 245. When Jake fought Mike Tyson last year, he was 227 pounds.
“I expect Jake will come in anywhere between 225 and 230 pounds. Anthony Joshua has a weight limit of 245 pounds.”
What do you say to people who call this ‘a mismatch?’
“I would say it’s much less of a mismatch than what you saw with AJ and Francis Ngannou, who was a massive man but had relatively no boxing experience.
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“I would say it’s much less of a mismatch than AJ’s ninth or 10th fight against guys who’ve been knocked out 20 to 25 times. Given AJ’s pedigree, Jake is built for this.
“Jake is built for the big moments. Do I think it’s dangerous for Jake Paul? Absolutely. Do I think it’s also dangerous for Anthony Joshua? 100 per cent.”
How will Paul handle the drastic change of opponent?
“When you look at when he was fighting Mike Tyson, he was going to fight at heavyweight. That fight got postponed and he went down to cruiserweight.
Jake Paul was initially scheduled to fight world lightweight champion Gervonta Davis
“Here, he was looking to lose weight to 195 pounds to fight Gervonta Davis. Now, on six weeks’ notice, he’s going to have to get up to heavyweight but it’s something he’s used to doing.
“When you look at the cruiserweight to heavyweight division, Usyk being the perfect example, it’s common for cruiserweights to step up into heavyweight.”
Who is preparing Jake for this fight?
“It’s the same team that’s been in his corner the entire time.
“Jake lives out of Puerto Rico, has a purpose-built facility there that he trains in five days of the week. So that team is just assembling different sparring partners than they were for Gervonta Davis.”
Who else will fight on that December 19 card?
“Most of the fights that we’d announced for the ‘Tank’ (Davis) fight will stay on this card.
“The biggest is the co-main event, which is Alycia Baumgardner fighting Leila Beaudoin. That is a 12×3 fight so these two women are doing men’s rules, men’s rounds, men’s minutes.
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Can Paul derail Joshua’s career?
“There’s a lot of plans for 2026 for Anthony Joshua.
“Jake’s role is to play the foil in those plans and his delusional confidence gives him a best shot of doing it.”
