If the Anthony Joshua vs Jake Paul announcement wasn’t quite enough for top boxing manager Sam Jones, Friday’s first face-to-face meeting for the two fighters absolutely was.
We are now just under a week since the massive news that two-time world heavyweight champion Joshua (28-4) will match up with Youtuber turned fighter Paul (12-1) in a December 19 blockbuster in Miami.
Paul’s meeting with 58-year-old former heavyweight king Mike Tyson drew 108million viewers to Netflix in November 2024, and that is again the hope here for the fighters and promoters.
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But while the financial upside is clear (both men will make north of £50million per reports, a career high for Joshua), there are very real safety concerns about what appears to be an enormous mismatch.
AJ, while 36 years old now, remains very much among the heavyweight elite, despite being out of the ring for more than a year since that devastating Wembley Stadium loss to Daniel Dubois.
Paul meanwhile, while clearly dedicating himself to the sport since his pro debut in 2020, has fought a mix of celebrities and washed-up MMA stars and boxers.
The gulf in class is clear (in our view the current odds of 1/9 Joshua, 6/1 Paul do not in any way reflect it) and concerns were already growing. But for Jones, Friday’s press conference just confirmed the feeling that something is badly wrong. The face-off between the pair just illustrated the huge difference in sheer physical size.
Major fears for Jake Paul
Jones, who manages that man Dubois among others, is so out on the whole thing, he cannot believe it will actually go ahead.
Writing on social media, he said: “I just can’t see the fight going ahead like who on gods green earth is telling someone as wealthy as Jake this is a good idea.
“They are worlds apart on ability and if that wasn’t enough AJ is double his size. Telling you if this goes ahead and AJ lands clean it’s going to be BAD.”
Rules for Joshua vs Jake Paul
The real fears for Jake come partly from the fact this is a bona fide heavyweight fight, not an exhibition. Jake is going from a planned meeting with a lightweight at 135lbs (Gervonta Davis, a bout which was cancelled) to a 250lb-plus heavyweight.
The bout will take place over 8 x 3-minute rounds, and both men will wear 10oz gloves.
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There is just one thing in the contract designed to level the playing field just a little – AJ must be no more than 111kg or 245lbs (17st 7lbs) at the official weigh-in on Thursday December 18. There is though no rehydration clause, meaning AJ can be whatever weight he wants on fight night.
The last time Joshua weighed less than 245lbs for a fight was back in 2022, and his rematch vs Oleksandr Usyk in Saudi Arabia.
