Andreas HaleNov 17, 2025, 11:35 AM ETCloseAndreas Hale is a combat sports reporter at ESPN. Andreas covers MMA, boxing and pro wrestling. In Andreas’ free time, he plays video games, obsesses over music and is a White Sox and 49ers fan. He is also a host for Sirius XM’s Fight Nation. Before joining ESPN, Andreas was a senior writer at DAZN and Sporting News. He started his career as a music journalist for outlets including HipHopDX, The Grammys and Jay-Z’s Life+Times. He is also an NAACP Image Award-nominated filmmaker as a producer for the animated short film “Bridges” in 2024.Follow on X
Paul will face Joshua, an opponent 100 pounds heavier than Davis, in a professionally sanctioned heavyweight boxing match. Unlike his exhibition fight with Davis, Paul won’t have a size advantage to offset the skill gap. Joshua has been fighting at around 250 pounds, while Paul fights at the cruiserweight limit of 200 pounds. Paul would look to shock the world and pull off what could be one of the biggest upsets in boxing history.
After Paul’s exhibition with Davis was canceled, the YouTuber-turned-boxer did everything he could to compete before the end of 2025. According to Most Valuable Promotions, Paul’s promotional outfit, there were talks with several potential opponents before landing on Joshua.
Joshua’s promoter, Matchroom Boxing’s Eddie Hearn, had told ESPN that Joshua was looking to fight once at the end of 2025 before targeting a fight with fellow British heavyweight Tyson Fury in 2026.
No. Paul vs. Joshua will be a sanctioned heavyweight fight that is scheduled for eight, three-minute rounds. The fighters will also wear 10-oz. gloves, standard for heavyweight fights.
Paul is much closer in weight to Joshua, but will now have to deal with both a size and skill gap. Joshua — a former Olympic gold medalist and two-time unified heavyweight champion — has come in as high as 254 pounds and as low as 229 pounds in his pro career. Paul’s highest weight was 227¼ pounds for his November 2024 exhibition against former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson. He weighed 199.4 pounds in his most recent fight, a dominant win against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in June.
The last time Joshua was in the ring with a boxing novice, he obliterated former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou in two rounds in March 2024.
Still, Paul wants to test himself and we’ll see exactly where he’s at when he steps inside the ring with Joshua.
Why wouldn’t he? It’s a low-risk, high-reward fight on a massive stage that will be streamed globally on Netflix. Joshua has faced some of the best heavyweights of his generation and has already sought to compete before the end of 2025. As one of the biggest stars in the history of British boxing, this fight will also see Joshua’s status grow in the United States, where he hasn’t fought since a disastrous knockout loss to Andy Ruiz Jr. at New York’s Madison Square Garden in 2019.
The only market that Joshua hasn’t cornered is the U.S. and facing someone with the reach of Paul will certainly help in an event he ends up facing Fury in 2026.
Hearn: Only Turki Al-Sheikh can make Anthony Joshua vs. Tyson Fury
If Joshua does what most think he’ll do and beat Paul definitively, his plans for a megafight with Fury will stay intact. Fury is retired, but could be enticed to return for a Joshua fight.
This is an interesting question because the expectation is that a highly decorated, hard-hitting heavyweight will defeat Paul categorically, and the chances of an upset will be heavily against Paul. This is a fight that Paul is expected to lose, and because of that, the idea of stepping in the ring and lasting could earn him a moral victory, as long as he isn’t brutally knocked out early in the fight.
If Paul somehow finds a way to make it competitive, it will only help his boxing stock rise. He’s already proven that a loss won’t completely derail his career and his massive presence on social media will allow him to lick his wounds and return, if not more marketable, having earned respect from a boxing community that has criticized his boxing career.
It’s almost a no-lose situation for Paul because he should have never been able to step into the ring with a former heavyweight champion at this stage of his career. Any time spent on his feet will be a win. However, should he end up on the wrong end of a highlight reel knockout, he’ll go viral for all the wrong reasons.
Jake Paul will take a massive step up in competition when he faces former two-time heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua in a heavyweight fight on Dec. 19 at Kaseya Center in Miami (Netflix). It’s a drastic shift in gears after Paul was originally scheduled to face WBA lightweight champion Gervonta “Tank” Davis in an exhibition bout with a catchweight of 195 pounds on Nov. 14. However, Paul’s fight with Davis was canceled on Nov. 3 in the wake of a civil lawsuit filed against Davis by his ex-girlfriend that accused him of battery, aggravated battery, false imprisonment, kidnapping and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
CloseAndreas Hale is a combat sports reporter at ESPN. Andreas covers MMA, boxing and pro wrestling. In Andreas’ free time, he plays video games, obsesses over music and is a White Sox and 49ers fan. He is also a host for Sirius XM’s Fight Nation. Before joining ESPN, Andreas was a senior writer at DAZN and Sporting News. He started his career as a music journalist for outlets including HipHopDX, The Grammys and Jay-Z’s Life+Times. He is also an NAACP Image Award-nominated filmmaker as a producer for the animated short film “Bridges” in 2024.Follow on X
But how did we get here and what does this all mean?
play2:46Hearn: Only Turki Al-Sheikh can make Anthony Joshua vs. Tyson FuryEddie Hearn speaks about the potential clash between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury.
Hearn: Only Turki Al-Sheikh can make Anthony Joshua vs. Tyson FuryEddie Hearn speaks about the potential clash between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury.