Jake Paul dealing with Anthony Joshua in knowledgeable boxing match is a situation that nobody might have ever seen coming even 5 years in the past.
Back in 2020, Joshua was nonetheless flying excessive at the high of the heavyweight division having gained his world titles again off Andy Ruiz Jr. the 12 months earlier than and retaining them in a demolition of Bulgarian challenger Kubrat Pulev.
In stark comparability, that very same 12 months, Paul was making his skilled debut as YouTube boxing began to catch hearth.
Paul won his first fight towards fellow YouTuber Ali Eson Gib, in a efficiency that confirmed some kind of promise, albeit towards an opponent who was unorthodox at finest.
Both males, although, appeared worlds aside. But, in a weird accident, they had been on a collision course that can come to a head in Miami on Friday.
Here is the whole lot you should know.
When and the place is the fight?
The fight can be held at the Kaseya Center in Miami on Friday night time, with ring walks for the fundamental occasion anticipated at round 10:30 p.m. Eastern time.
The contest, knowledgeable bout sanctioned by the Florida Athletic Commission, will include eight three-minute rounds with each males carrying 10oz gloves.
The showpiece will conclude a stacked undercard, which options a few of the finest feminine fighters in the world – notably American world champion Alycia Baumgardner.
The fundamental occasion can be aired completely on Netflix, as the streaming service continues its foray into dwell sports activities. The platform beforehand confirmed Paul’s fight towards Mike Tyson which attracted 108 million viewers.
Both Paul and Joshua are anticipated to earn extraordinary sums of cash from the fight, regardless of the official figures not being launched.
For a very long time, Paul has publicly said his lofty ambitions in the “sweet science.” He says, and perhaps genuinely believes, he may very well be a world champion.
For the final 5 years, he has locked himself away in Puerto Rico the place he lives and trains as knowledgeable boxer. It’s an strategy which has seen outcomes and he’s now a much better pugilist than he was 5 years in the past.
But take his extraordinary profile out of the equation, and Paul’s boxing CV doesn’t fairly dwell as much as his personal hype – together with his document of 12 wins and one defeat being considerably deceptive.
Most of his fights have been towards former UFC fighters who had been previous their prime. More just lately, he fought boxing legend Tyson and breezed to victory towards a person approaching his sixtieth birthday.
His solely defeat got here towards knowledgeable boxer, when Tommy Fury – cousin of world well-known boxer Tyson Fury – dispatched Paul on factors.
But Paul stays a profitable persona in the sport, ready to attract in record-breaking audiences round the world.
He and his firm, Most Valuable Productions, partnered with Netflix once more this 12 months to initially fight unbeaten light-weight world champion Gervonta “Tank” Davis, who is considerably smaller than Paul.
It was set to be a battle of types; might Paul’s superior measurement and energy overcome Davis’ elite world champion velocity and talent?
However, the fight was scrapped in November on account of a misdemeanor home violence charge towards Davis, which means the scheduled present on Netflix was with no fundamental occasion.
That’s when consideration then turned to Joshua – a person a lot larger and much more highly effective than Davis.
The Brit, 36, is certainly one of the finest British heavyweights in the sport’s historical past. He’s a former two-time unified world champion with an Olympic gold medal to his title. But, in reality, he’s possible previous his prime as a fighter now.
He had been on the lookout for a means again to the ring after taking a 12 months out of the sport following his defeat towards fellow British heavyweight Daniel Dubois in 2024.
That loss noticed many query whether or not Joshua ought to maintain combating, with the former world champion wanting a shadow of his former self.
But Joshua had initially deliberate to take a tune-up fight in November as he appeared to rebuild his profession, with all eyes on a possible conflict towards Tyson Fury in 2026 – a fight many followers have been calling for for years.
So, when Paul got here knocking, it was a no brainer for each Joshua and his long-term promoter Eddie Hearn.
“But we just couldn’t turn it down,” Hearn wrote in a column on BBC Sport this week.
“No boxer of their proper thoughts would have stated no. Anyone who says they might are utterly mendacity by their tooth.
“We took a fight that we believe will be very straightforward, will give AJ a huge profile in America and one of his career-high paydays.”
Paul is by no means wanting confidence – it’s a persona trait that he’s constructed his total empire on.
And the 28-year-old, whose eye-line reaches Joshua’s chest, has continued to inform anybody who will hear that he has the expertise to beat his gargantuan opponent who stands 5 inches taller than him.
It’s fairly the turnaround given Paul was making ready to fight the much-smaller man in Davis till comparatively just lately. Now, the roles are reversed and he’s tasked with slaying the large.
The mismatch bodily has seen some from the sport query whether or not it’s even secure for the fight to go forward, however Paul stays assured he can shock the world.
“This is not as a one-sided fight as people think,” Paul stated at the press convention final week.
“I have power, I have the ability to put people to sleep so that’s why I took this challenge. I know it’s crazy, but I’m excited. I’m genuinely excited.”
The mismatch, although, nonetheless has many critics on the lookout for a catch.
Some critics, significantly on-line, discover it laborious to imagine that Paul would put himself in the means of Joshua with out there being some kind of settlement for the Brit to take it straightforward.
Both camps, although, have trashed such claims and Joshua, with the weight of expectation on his again, has promised an early stoppage.
The two fighters had been largely respectful of one another in the buildup to the occasion, however issues turned nasty in the last press conferences earlier than the fight this week, with Joshua doubling down on his declare that he may “kill” Paul.
Threats of such violence are normally appeared down upon in boxing, not least with the two males being so totally different bodily and the sport’s tragic historical past of deaths caused in the ring, however Joshua stated that’s simply the place he mindset is at.
“I just don’t look at it from a physical standpoint,” Joshua stated in a face-to-face assembly with Paul earlier this week. “I do know the particular person standing in entrance and I do know I’ve acquired to take his soul. It’s not simply bodily. I’ve acquired to take your soul in the ring.
“I’ve simply seen in fights after I can see somebody’s power, frequency, leaving their physique. That’s what my objective is: to do the identical to you. You have that intuition, you possibly can see it whenever you’re combating, you possibly can simply see a small glimmer of somebody that’s nearly to start out fading and you simply maintain exploiting that till some folks hand over, some folks get knocked out.
“For me, it’s not just going in there and dominating physically. I want to break him down spiritually and mentally.”
There is one limitation for Joshua, although. He should weigh not more than 245 kilos at the official weigh-in on Thursday night time – the first time the heavyweight has ever needed to make weight in his profession.
First, some huge cash.
The official figures haven’t been launched but, however each males are anticipated to earn tens of thousands and thousands of {dollars} for the occasion which is set to interrupt but extra viewership data on Netflix.
From a boxing perspective, many have known as on Joshua to “save” boxing’s credibility by shortly dispatching Paul.
It’s additionally a query of legacy for the British icon – who has helped the heavyweight division develop into so well-liked in the final decade. A loss to a former YouTuber, some say, may take away from the whole lot he’s achieved in the sport.
For Paul, there is simply his security to fret about. Few, if any, really anticipate him to have the ability to harm Joshua, so he’s acquired nothing to lose in that respect.
He has, after all, all the time acquired a puncher’s probability and it’s that factor of doubt that can possible draw thousands and thousands to the display come Friday night time in Miami.