Yes, it's true: Jake Paul and Anthony Joshua set to fight on Dec. 19
It's an official heavyweight bout and a massive step up for Paul, who can ruin major plans that are in the works for AJ in 2026
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Jake Paul, who has feasted on non-combat athletes, MMA fighters crossing over to boxing and boxers with big names but who were way, way past their best — Mike Tyson and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in his previous two bouts — is not playing around any longer.
Paul will take a massive step up in competition in his next fight against former two-time unified heavyweight titleholder Anthony Joshua on Dec. 19 (Netflix, 8 p.m. ET) at Kaseya Center in Miami, Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions announced on Monday. They will come face to face at the kickoff news conference at the arena on Nov. 21.
The heavyweight fight, which MVP has dubbed “Judgment Day,” is scheduled for eight rounds. It will be an official boxing match contested under standard rules — three-minute rounds using 10-ounce gloves.
“This isn’t an AI simulation. This is Judgment Day,” Paul said in the announcement. “A professional heavyweight fight against an elite (former) world champion. When I beat Anthony Joshua, every doubt disappears, and no one can deny me the opportunity to fight for a world title. To all my haters, this is what you wanted. To the people of the United Kingdom, I am sorry. On Friday, Dec. 19, under the lights in Miami, live globally only on Netflix, the torch gets passed and Britain’s Goliath gets put to sleep.”
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Although the 6-foot-6, 250-pound Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs), 36, the British mega star and 2012 Olympic super heavyweight gold medalist, can no longer be considered in his prime he still rates as one of the top heavyweights in the world even though he is coming off a brutal knockout loss.
In that September 2024 bout, countryman Daniel Dubois, then the IBF heavyweight world titleholder, dropped Joshua four times in an upset fifth-round decimation before some 90,000 at Wembley Stadium in London.
Joshua later underwent elbow surgery and it appeared doubtful he would fight at all this year with indications from his team that he would return in February. But in recent weeks Matchroom Boxing’s Eddie Hearn, Joshua’s promoter, said Joshua has been training and would fight before end of the year.
While Hearn said the fight with Paul was possible, according to sources there were plans for Joshua to be quietly added to the Ring magazine DAZN pay-per-view card on Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for a tune-up against Cassius Chaney (24-3, 17 KOs), 38, of New London, Connecticut. But that was dismissed once the deal with Paul was agreed to and they were getting the paperwork in order.
“Jake or anyone can get this work. No mercy,” Joshua said. “I took some time out and I’m coming back with a mega show. It’s a big opportunity for me. Whether you like it or not, I’m here to do massive numbers, have big fights and break every record whilst keeping cool, calm and collected. Mark my words, you’ll see a lot more fighters take these opportunities in the future. I’m about to break the internet over Jake Paul’s face.”
The fight is a radical change from what the 6-foot-1, 200-pound cruiserweight Paul (12-1, 7 KOs), 28, of Puerto Rico, was planning. He was scheduled for a 10-round exhibition bout against 135-pound lightweight world titleholder Gervonta Davis at a maximum weight of 195 pounds on Nov. 14 on Netflix and also at Kaseya Center.
However, the fight was canceled on Nov. 3 when MVP, the leading promoter of women’s boxing, dropped Davis, who has a long history of domestic abuse allegations against him, from the fight when he was sued by a former girlfriend for battery, aggravated battery, false imprisonment, kidnapping and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
When it was canceled, MVP announced that the plan was for Paul to still headline a Netflix event before the end of the year.
MVP made overtures to a variety of possible opponents for December besides Joshua, including undisputed super middleweight champion Terence Crawford, who in September won the title from Canelo Alvarez in a mega fight that drew a massive audience on Netflix; long retired Hall of Fame former super middleweight and light heavyweight champion Andre Ward; welterweight star Ryan Garcia; former UFC champion Nate Diaz, who Paul already outpointed in an official boxing match in 2023; and former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou, who Joshua badly knocked out in the second round in March 2024. In the end, the Joshua fight was made.
“They say be careful what you wish for. Kind of feel like that’s all I need to say,” Hearn said. “Two of the biggest names in the sport will collide on Dec 19. Whilst I admire Jake’s balls, he’s going to find out the hard way in Miami.”
How Joshua was able to gain permission from DAZN, where he is exclusive, to fight on Netflix is unclear. There had been previous conversations between the camps about a potential Paul-Joshua fight for 2026 but after Paul-Davis was canceled those discussions accelerated.
“Everyone laughed when Jake Paul said in March that he wanted to fight AJ in 2026,” MVP CEO Nakisa Bidarian said. “Well, plans changed, and in under two weeks, MVP and Netflix have made one of the biggest fights of all time. Now, as only Jake Paul could and would do, he’s fighting one of the most fearsome boxers in the world. Joshua has every advantage in this fight, except one — the delusional confidence of Jake Paul, and if anyone can shock the world, it’s him. This is a global clash between two of the most recognizable figures in the sport.”
During the Conor Benn-Chris Eubank Jr. pay-per-view this past Saturday, Hearn and Saudi Arabia’s Turki Alalshikh said in an interview that they were working on 2026 plans for Joshua, which would entail a February fight in Riyadh followed by what Alalshikh described as a return to England in September for “one of the greatest fights in the history of boxing.”
It is no secret that Alalshikh, who has made mega fights involving Joshua and his countryman and former champion Tyson Fury, has designs on delivering that long-awaited fight. Fury claims he is retired, but has gone in and out of retirement numerous times.
Those 2026 plans for Joshua would apparently remain intact if Joshua beats Paul, which he will be heavily favored to do.
“I am talking now with Eddie,” Alalshikh said during the DAZN interview. “We have next year two big events here in London. It will be a surprise. We will have Joshua in our country in February, then there is the big fight, one of the greatest fights in the history of boxing. It will be in London maybe in September. I will not give you the answer but we will have in April (a fight) in Tottenham (Hotspur Stadium in London), then in September we will have a big surprise for the fans in England.”
Hearn added, “Listen, we have all got excited about that fight (against Fury) for many years. I believe this is the man (Alalshikh) to make it happen. Everything we do with Anthony Joshua, we do with Turki Alalshikh. We have a lot of plans for Anthony Joshua’s future. He wants to regain the world heavyweight championship. He wants to, of course, fight Tyson Fury. Let the man do his work. I will keep quiet because I have got a big mouth and hopefully we can see the fight that everybody in here wants to see.”
Paul is a massive long shot to beat Joshua but he will certainly aim to wreck those best laid plans.
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Photos: Paul: Cris Esqueda/Golden Boy; Joshua: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing
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Props to Jake for stepping up and fighting someone who can actually fight (in this sport and in this decade) but I will never get over his annoying social media based personality. Still a good heel makes for an entertaining fight. If he does alright he will at least have an opportunity for boxing fans to take him seriously. Seriously doubt it though, even if AJ is all washed up my bet is that he will wipe the floor with him. Francis Ngannou KO repeat.
That’s a Paul fight I will watch dan a real fight