{"id":290602,"date":"2025-11-17T15:03:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T15:03:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/290602\/"},"modified":"2025-11-17T15:03:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T15:03:11","slug":"anthony-joshua-savagely-mocked-by-boxing-fans-after-agreeing-to-controversial-jake-paul-fight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/290602\/","title":{"rendered":"Anthony Joshua savagely mocked by boxing fans after agreeing to controversial Jake Paul fight"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anthony Joshua has sparked a backlash from boxing fans after it was confirmed the 36-year-old would return to the ring for a bout with Jake Paul on December 19.<\/p>\n

The Briton hasn’t competed since losing to Daniel Dubois at Wembley in September 2024, on what was one of the worst evenings of his career.<\/p>\n

Now, however, Joshua is poised to make a comeback with the heavyweight star to lock horns with Paul in Miami.<\/p>\n

The showdown will be broadcast by Netflix, who previously screened Paul’s controversial clash with Mike Tyson in November last year.<\/p>\n

But while some fans will be thrilled to see AJ returning, especially after so long away, others have stuck the knife into the Briton and suggested it’s a sign that his stock has dropped drastically.<\/p>\n

One X user wrote: “Anthony Joshua used to fight proper boxers, how are the mighty fallen! Now, he fights jokers.”<\/p>\n

A second hit out by saying: “Hahaha, Joshua is really done with boxing.”<\/p>\n

\"Anthony<\/p>\n

Anthony Joshua’s last five fights<\/p>\n

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PA<\/p>\n

\"Anthony<\/p>\n

Anthony Joshua has sparked a backlash from boxing fans after it was confirmed the 36-year-old would return to the ring for a bout with Jake Paul on December 19<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

PA<\/p>\n

A third blasted Joshua, writing: “Anthony Joshua choosing money over his own legacy and reputation, to fight a YouTuber. Absolute muppet.”<\/p>\n

Another echoed that sentiment, stating: “Whatever legacy Joshua still had has been rumbled by this fight.”<\/p>\n

And a fifth fumed: “Absolutely s***e this. Joshua ruining his legacy for a few extra quid.”<\/p>\n

\"Anthony<\/p>\n

Anthony Joshua has not been seen in the ring since his defeat against Daniel Dubois in September 2024<\/p>\n

| PA<\/p>\n

Joshua, meanwhile, has defended the fight.<\/p>\n

He’s also insisted that he’s ready to ‘break the internet’ by battering Paul, who has long been one of the sport’s most-divisive figures.<\/p>\n

\u201cI took some time out and I\u2019m coming back with a mega show,” said the Watford-born star.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a big opportunity for me. Whether you like it or not, I\u2019m here to do massive numbers, have big fights and break every record whilst keeping cool, calm and collected.<\/p>\n

“Mark my words, you\u2019ll see a lot more fighters take these opportunities in the future. I\u2019m about to break the internet over Jake Paul\u2019s face.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for Paul, the 28-year-old is confident he’ll be able to beat Joshua and prove that he belongs at the highest level.<\/p>\n

\"JakeJake Paul is a confident he’ll beat Anthony Joshua | GETTY<\/p>\n

“This isn\u2019t an AI simulation. This is Judgment Day,” insisted the former YouTuber.<\/p>\n

\u201cA professional heavyweight fight against an elite world champion in his prime.<\/p>\n

“When I beat Anthony Joshua, every doubt disappears, and no one can deny me the opportunity to fight for a world title. <\/p>\n

“To all my haters, this is what you wanted.<\/p>\n

“To the people of the United Kingdom, I am sorry.<\/p>\n

“On Friday, December 19, under the lights in Miami, live globally only on Netflix, the torch gets passed and Britain\u2019s Goliath gets put to sleep. I KNOWWWW YOU GOT EM PICKED HAHAHHA.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Anthony Joshua has sparked a backlash from boxing fans after it was confirmed the 36-year-old would return to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":290603,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,44,588,85,2489,3780],"class_list":["post-290602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boxing","tag-news","tag-sport","tag-sports","tag-us","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290602","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=290602"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290602\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/290603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=290602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=290602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=290602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}