When is Jake Paul vs. Anthony Joshua?
Jake Paul vs. Anthony Joshua is on Friday, December 19. The main broadcast will begin at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (1 a.m. GMT).
A preliminary undercard will kick off at 4:45 p.m. ET (9:45 p.m. GMT).
What channel is Jake Paul vs. Anthony Joshua on?
The main Jake Paul vs. Anthony Joshua broadcast will stream on Netflix. The preliminary undercard is available on Netflix’s Tudum website and Most Valuable Promotions’ YouTube Channel.
Where is Jake Paul vs. Anthony Joshua?
The fight is taking place at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida.
Who is Jake Paul?
Jake Paul, 12-1 (7 KOs), came to pro boxing after building an immense following on social media. But he wasn’t just another influencer merely dabbling in fisticuffs. He has actual athletic ability and has truly dedicated himself to training, working to overcome his very late start and a lack of an amateur pedigree.
He also has lacked any truly legitimate opponents. While most prospects take on no-hopers, journeymen and gatekeepers during their development, it’s incredibly rare for a prospect to receive the kind of mainstream attention that Paul does. And when a fighter brags about how great they are without yet having come anywhere near close to proving it, they will be the deserving recipient of both doubt and ire.
Among those Paul beat in the early days were a retired basketball player and undersized and/or past-their-prime mixed martial artists. Then came a split decision loss to the marginally talented Tommy Fury in February 2023. It’s fair to say that Paul has improved since then. But since then, his level of opposition hasn’t gotten significantly better.
He beat another former MMA star, made short work of two actual boxers – Andre August and Ryan Bourland – though they were naturally smaller than him and were rather limited in skill and ability. But instead of subsequently stepping up against better cruiserweights, Paul announced a fight with the long-retired, ancient Mike Tyson.
When Tyson’s health issues postponed their match, Paul instead beat Mike Perry, an MMA fighter turned bare-knuckle boxer. Paul vs. Tyson wound up taking place in November 2024. In Paul’s sole fight as a heavyweight – until this Friday – he outpointed the 58-year-old Tyson on Netflix in front of the largest televised audience for a boxing match in the United States in a long, long time.
The sideshows continued this year. In June, Paul won a decision against Julio Cesar Chavez Jnr – a former middleweight titleholder, sure, but long past his prime and well beyond his best weight division. And in November, Paul was supposed to have an exhibition with Gervonta “Tank” Davis, a superb talent but, you know, a lightweight.
The Davis event was canceled after he was sued by a former girlfriend accusing him of domestic violence. Paul, to his credit, called on Joshua. Paul is five inches shorter at 6-foot-1, is coming up from cruiserweight, and is far less experienced. He’s taking on a huge challenge, even though Joshua isn’t at his peak anymore either.
Who is Anthony Joshua?
Anthony Joshua, 28-4 (25 KOs), is a former unified heavyweight titleholder who held three of the four major sanctioning body belts during a pair of reigns.
The 6-foot-6 Londoner won the gold medal in the 2012 Olympics in front of his home crowd, which only primed him for potential superstardom. In April 2016, he made quick work of Charles Martin to capture the IBF title. A year later, Joshua had to get off the canvas to stop Wladimir Klitschko, adding the vacant WBA belt in front of a huge crowd at Wembley Stadium in what both Ring Magazine and the Boxing Writers Association of America named their fight of the year.
By March 2018, Joshua had unified with the WBO title as well, seizing it from Joseph Parker via unanimous decision. After stopping Alexander Povetkin later that year, Joseph seemed to be in a position where the next big goal would be an undisputed championship fight against the winner of Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury. Alas, it wasn’t to be.
Joshua’s first fight of 2019 was supposed to be that June against Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller. When Miller tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs, Andy Ruiz substituted in. Joshua dropped Ruiz in the third round and got overconfident, leaving himself open for Ruiz to hurt him in return. Joshua was floored twice in the third and never truly recovered. After two more knockdowns in the seventh round, Joshua was done, the victim of a massive upset.
Joshua and Ruiz met in a rematch toward the end of the year. This time, Joshua came in with a cautiously tactical approach, while Ruiz came in 15lbs heavier. Ruiz’s additional poundage slowed him so much that Joshua was able to box from a distance, taking his three titles back through a wide decision on the scorecards. Joshua then spent a year on the sideline due in part due to the pandemic, then returned in December 2020 with a confidence-building ninth-round knockout of Kubrat Pulev.
Fury had taken the WBC title from Wilder in their rematch earlier in 2020. In 2021, Joshua and Fury agreed to meet in a massive August event. That, too, wasn’t to be. Wilder enforced his contractual right to a third fight. Instead, Joshua defended against Oleksandr Usyk that September and saw his second title reign come to an end. Usyk won a unanimous decision and then triumphed again via split decision 11 months later.
Joshua spent 2023 rebuilding through a decision win over Jermaine Franklin, a knockout of Robert Helenius and a TKO of Otto Wallin. At the start of 2024, Joshua succeeded where Fury had previously struggled – dominating MMA champion Francis Ngannou in a boxing match, knocking him cold in the second round.
That set up another title shot for Joshua, taking on Daniel Dubois in September 2024 for the IBF belt that Usyk had vacated. Dubois bounced Joshua off the canvas repeatedly. The end came in the fifth, when Joshua thought he had Dubois badly hurt – shades of the first Ruiz fight – and left himself wide open for a perfectly placed shot.
Joshua hasn’t fought since. He had minor elbow surgery this May. But when Jake Paul’s exhibition with Gervonta “Tank” Davis was canceled, Joshua got the call. The 36-year-old is heavily favored, even with a contractual weight limit of 245lbs, about 7lbs lighter than what Joshua was against Ngannou and Dubois.
If Joshua wins, he’s expected to finally face Fury – who is returning from his latest so-called retirement – in a huge fight in 2026.
What other fights are on the undercard of Jake Paul vs. Anthony Joshua?
In the co-feature, former undisputed junior lightweight champion Alycia Baumgardner, 16-1 (7 KOs), will defend her IBF, WBA and WBO titles against Leila Beaudoin, 13-1 (2 KOs). Baumgardner recently vacated the WBC belt.
There will also be a boxing match between two former mixed martial artists with past losses to Paul: Anderson Silva, 3-2 (2 KOs) in the Sweet Science, and Tyron Woodley, 0-2, both of his defeats to Paul. And in the main broadcast’s opening bout, featherweight Jahmal Harvey – a 2024 Olympic quarterfinalist who is 1-0 (1 KO) in the pros – is due to take on Kevin Cervantes, 5-0 (5 KOs).
The preliminary undercard is topped by Cherneka Johnson, 18-2 (8 KOs), who became the undisputed bantamweight champion in July, and will defend her throne against Amanda Galle, 12-0-1 (1 KO). There will also be Yokasta Valle, 33-3 (10 KOs), the WBC’s titleholder at 105lbs, against Yadira Bustillos, 11-1 (2 KOs); plus WBC lightweight titlist Caroline Dubois, 11-0-1 (5 KOs), vs. Camilla Panatta, 8-2-1 (1 KO).
The prelims will also include the return of welterweight prospect Avious Griffin, 17-1 (16 KOs), from his first defeat; and the professional debut of light heavyweight Keno Marley, who competed in the Olympics in 2021 and 2024, losing to the eventual silver medalist at light heavyweight and then the gold medalist at heavyweight.
The full list of undercard fights can be seen on BoxRec.
David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.
