Jake Paul has agreed to fight Anthony Joshua before Christmas after the YouTuber’s bout with Gervonta Davis was called off. The American’s business partner Nakisa Bidarian said the sides will meet
Anthony Joshua could fight Jake Paul just six days before Christmas.
Originally, Paul was set to go head-to-head with lightweight world champion Gervonta Davis this Friday. However, after allegations of kidnap were levelled against Davis by his ex-girlfriend, the bout was called off. Now, 28 year old Paul is gearing up to face former two-time heavyweight king Joshua, 36, in Miami. The much-anticipated fight will be streamed live on Netflix and is expected to take place on either December 12.
Joshua hasn’t stepped into the ring since he suffered a brutal knockout at the hands of Daniel Dubois at Wembley last September. He views the lucrative match-up with Paul as a warm-up for a potential clash with rival Tyson Fury next year. Paul has built up his record by taking on ex-MMA stars, with his only notable opponent, Tommy Fury, handing the social media star his sole defeat in 2023, reports the Mirror.
Earlier this week, Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn hinted that Joshua could feature on an undercard this year – unless he managed to agree terms with Paul. “We will make a decision this week on Anthony’s next fight,” he stated. “If he fights this year, it’s just gonna be a… You probably won’t even hear about it, unless it’s Jake Paul. We’ll make that decision this week, but – outside of Jake Paul – if he fought this year, you really wouldn’t know about it.”
Earlier this year, Paul challenged Joshua for a match in early 2026, having already secured a deal with Davis. In August, Paul’s business partner Nakisa Bidarian stated: “This would be pursued as a straight up professional fight. I think there’s certainly an experience gap between the two of them in terms of where they’re at in their career. From my perspective, Joshua’s an active heavyweight.
“The likelihood of Anthony Joshua being able to land a heavyweight punch is much higher than what Mike Tyson had. I want to give Jake as much time as possible to improve on his boxing skillset to be able to effectively neutralise that main attribute of Anthony Joshua. My ask of him is to wait longer to do it. But when an opportunity is there, sometimes if you don’t take it, it never comes back.
“When asked about Paul previously, Joshua praised the American, saying he was “good for boxing”. “He’s good for boxing. He has no amateur background and just jumped straight in. He’s learning under pressure, and that will help him evolve quickly,” Joshua commented.