On Friday night in Miami, Florida we get a fight none of us ever expected to see in 2025 – Anthony Joshua vs Jake Paul.
A two-time world heavyweight champion will go head to head with a YouTuber turned fighter in a ‘crossover’ event which has captured the imagination of millions of fans around the world.
Hardcore boxing purists hate it (count us among them) but there is zero doubt that a huge audience will tune in on Netflix to watch the whole thing unfold.
Here are all the big questions ahead of fight night, and our take on the answers. It’s all you need to know about what should be a must-see showdown.
The big questions, answered
Q Is the fight a legitimate contest or a streaming spectacle?
This is legit. Eight three-minute rounds with the fighters set to use 10oz gloves. The bout has been sanctioned as a professional heavyweight contest and will therefore count towards each of their pro records.
Paul (12-1 as a professional fighter with 7 wins inside distance) had been scheduled to face WBA lightweight boss Gervonta Davis at the same venue in November, but that fight was canned after a domestic abuse civil lawsuit was filed against Tank. AJ has been out of the ring since a crushing KO defeat to Daniel Dubois in September 2024.
Q – We are hearing there is a weight clause?
Weight clause and heavyweight fight is a bit of an oxymoron, but here we are. Both men have agreed to meet at heavyweight for this Netflix sporting oddity. However, Joshua – naturally the much bigger man – will not be able to weigh more than 245lbs when they hit the scales.
‘The Problem Child’ is a natural cruiserweight (200lbs limit) and has even dipped as low as 185lbs in a pro career which began back in 2020. AJ was a career-high 255.4 pounds (18st 3lb) for his fight against Jermaine Franklin in March 2023, but often fights somewhere between 240 and 255, so the weight restriction shouldn’t cause him too many issues.
Q Who is the A-side here?
Amazingly it’s Paul. That may sound crazy – especially to UK fight fans – as Joshua 28-4 (25) is a former two-time unified heavyweight world champion and Olympic gold medallist, while Jake is a social media influencer turned pro fighter.
However – whether the purists like it or not – money talks and ‘The Problem Child’ is the star attraction in the US. He is also the co-founder of MVP, who are promoting the event.
It’s being billed as Jake vs Joshua on the fight posters (let’s not get into the misspelling of the word ‘Judgement’ on the poster either) so Paul will get top billing even though Joshua is the more established, world-class athlete.
Q – Is it good news for boxing that Netflix are again involved in such a high-profile promotion?
Netflix has more than 300 million paid subscribers globally, so the reach for this fight is off the scale. Importantly, there will be no additional fees for this event, allowing subscribers to enjoy the action without any extra charges. This in theory should bring new eyes to the sport.
However, if the fight is a stinker – or worse still there is an injury – it could act as a body blow to a sport which is already rudderless.
Boxing in 2025 is the very definition of moral flexibility. Top fighters are popping for PED’s on the regular, and even when they do so, the consequences do not appear to fit the crime.
Unlike other sports, there is no overall governance which means if the cold hard cash is there, fights like this are easy to put together. Hopefully we get a night to remember, and everyone gets paid and goes home happy. But if we don’t, it begs the question ‘who will spring to the sport’s defence?’
Q What are the two men being paid?
As you would expect, the paydays are befitting for a bout what promises to be one of the most-watched fights in boxing history. Joshua is expected to earn as much as £70million for the fight.
According to sources online, the prize purse for Paul vs Joshua is an astonishing £140 million, which means both fighters’ will be making bank regardless of the outcome.
Q – What are the form lines and who has been training each fighter in the countdown to this?
AJ has not been seen since losing in sensation fashion to Dubois underneath the Wembley arch. He is 36 now and his best days are very much in his rear-view mirror.
However, he has the grade and is clearly the puncher in this fight. Joshua has 25 stoppages on his record (from 28 wins) and has won five times in the first round as a pro. Interestingly though he has not registered a win in the first stanza since blasting out Gary Cornish more than 10 years ago.
Joshua recently parted ways with head coach Ben Davison and is now being trained by Iegor Golub (Egor Holub), who has been part of the Oleksandr Usyk success story in recent years.
Usyk himself weighed in on the fight when he said in a recent interview “Anthony is a Rolls-Royce. Jake Paul is a “Fiat.” So for him, it’s a very, very big problem.”
Everyone calls Paul a YouTuber – and that’s how he started – but this is a man with a stack of cash. He pays for the best trainers, nutritionists, chefs, strength and conditioning coaches. He’s a full-time athlete now and is taking this fight very seriously.
El Gallo’s current training team includes head coach Theo Chambers, longtime coach J’Leon Love, and strength and conditioning coach Larry Wade. Shane Mosley has also been in the background offering Paul advice.
In his last fight in June Paul won a decision over 10 rounds against a very reluctant Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
Q – Is the undercard any good?
Lightweight world champion Caroline Dubois has signed a promotional deal with MVP and will be on the card. Dubois – formerly with Ben Shalom and Boxxer – is unbeaten in 12 fights with one draw and will defend her WBC title against Italy’s Camila Panatta.
Alycia Baumgardner – the IBF, WBO and Ring Magazine super-featherweight champion – is also on the bill against Canadian challenger Leila Beaudoin. Baumgardner is 16-1 (7) and a quality operator.
Aussie Cherneka Johnson is also on the card. Johnson’s next fight is an undisputed bantamweight title defence against Canada’s Amanda Galle. And in a battle of former Jake Paul opponents, former MMA legend Anderson Silva takes on Tyron Woodley in Miami.
Speaking honestly, while the undercard does contain several high-profile names from the world of combat sports, it looks a bit light on competitive fights.
Q – Are there still plans for Tyson Fury vs Joshua?
Talks feel like they have been going on an eternity but much like Floyd Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao a decade ago, it feels like there is too much money involved for the fight not to happen one day.
Team Joshua see this meeting with Paul as a tune-up for a potential clash with ‘The Gypsy King’ in 2026.
Joshua has spoken about “legacy” throughout his pro journey. What happens to AJ’s career should the unthinkable happen and he loses? Many pundits and fans believe AJ is in a “no-win situation” here because if he wins, it is expected, but if he loses, his entire career as an elite heavyweight contender is probably over.
Eddie Hearn is one of the best talkers in the game, but even he would surely struggle to pitch AJ against Fury in 2026 if Joshua fumbles this.
Q – How does Paul vs Joshua play out?
Is Usyk right? Is this a Fiat 500 versus a Rolls Royce? Could ‘The Problem Child’ land a haymaker and shake up the world? Sure, it’s 2025 and we guess at this point anything is possible. AJ has been on the floor numerous times as a pro. The cloak of invincibility was pulled away from him forever by Andy Ruiz Jr as far back as 2019 and last time out he suffered a shocking multiple-knockdown defeat by Dubois.
Paul – the ultimate clout chaser – has been moved carefully as a boxer. He beat an ancient Mike Tyson just over a year ago, but this feels different. AJ is probably a few years removed from his absolute peak, but he is always in phenomenal shape and would still be too much for all but a handful of heavyweights on the planet in 2025. Paul is in deep here, and it will be interesting to see if he is able to swim in such dangerous waters.
AJ will surely come out using his superior jab and size to control the distance and gauge Paul’s style in the early going. Paul’s movement and durability might help him survive for a while, but Joshua is going to land clean at some point and Paul won’t be able to take it.
Paul’s background is Internet chaos. Joshua’s is gold at the 2012 Olympics. This is not “levels”. This is a PT Barnum-esque carnival and if everything is on the level then a Joshua stoppage win looks nailed on.
The Englishman is 11/4 to win in round one with some firms, and if that’s not an early Christmas gift from the bookies then we don’t know what is.
