The YouTuber-turned-boxer faces his toughest test yet on December 19 against the heavyweight legend, but a top boxing star doubts the fight will go ahead
Jake Paul and Anthony Joshua face off
Ryan Garcia seriously doubts Jake Paul‘s heavyweight showdown with Anthony Joshua will take place.
The YouTuber-turned-boxer is expected to face the former two-time heavyweight champion on December 19 in Miami. Their dust-up will be staged over eight three-minute rounds, and both men will don 10oz gloves. Paul – who has not fought since his decision victory over Julio Cesar Chavez Jr back in June – was due to take on Gervonta Davis earlier this month, but was forced to cancel the event after his opponent was accused of battery, false imprisonment and kidnapping by an ex-girlfriend.
Joshua, meanwhile, has been inactive since suffering a brutal knockout loss to Daniel Dubois back in September 2024. The Brit was planning on making a comeback to the ring within the coming months prior to accepting the bout with Paul. Just a few weeks until the pair trade leather, both Joshua and Paul have already had the chance to size each other up after meeting at a press conference in Miami last week.
As the two fighters faced off, many within the boxing community were left stunned by the monumental size disparity. After watching the duo go nose-to-nose, Garcia expressed his reservations over the contest, insisting it would not go ahead. “I seriously doubt this Jake vs Anthony fight takes place. It’s too much of a disadvantage, just don’t make sense. After the press conference that’s apparent,” he wrote.
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Anthony Joshua and Jake Paul will face off for a heavyweight clash in Miami on December 19. The fight will stream live on Netflix, which fans can get for free with Sky’s £15 Essential TV bundle, the brand’s ‘lowest ever price’ for Sky TV.
Paul was left severely enraged by Garcia’s comments, and it did not take him long to hit back at the professional boxer. He said: “What don’t make sense is you fighting for a WBC belt [clash with Mario Barrios] after coming off an a** whooping by Rolly [Romero]. And five other things I could bring up. But hey, that’s no knock on you, you have big… nah you ain’t having big nothing.”
After Paul’s clash with Davis was scrapped, the American issued call-outs of several boxing stars. On his list was Garcia. The pair have traded barbs over the years and the social media sensation was itching to settle the score with the controversial fighter. However, MVP chief Nakisa Bidarian revealed that streaming service DAZN were not willing to let ‘King Ryan’ switch platforms.
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“Our provision of services is with Matchroom,” he said. ” We pay Matchroom a sum of money and they present to us that they have obtained the rights to allow AJ to appear on Netflix. We have a great relationship with DAZN; they said no in terms of Ryan Garcia, pretty quickly, but they said yes to AJ.
“My assumption is they believe Jake could beat Ryan Garcia and that wouldn’t have been great for an asset they have in Ryan Garcia. My assumption is they believe AJ is going to kill Jake Paul so they agreed to let it happen.”
When is Anthony Joshua vs Jake Paul?
Anthony Joshua and Jake Paul will clash in Miami on December 19, just six days before Christmas. The pair will likely walk to the ring at around 11pm local time which would be 4am in the UK. Fight times are usually set to benefit the American audience and are subject to change depending on how long the undercard takes to complete. The event is set to be shown live on Netflix.