date, fight details and why Joshua chose the Netflix bout
Anthony Joshua is undoubtedly one of the greatest boxers of his generation. The Briton is 28-4 with 25 victories by knockout. He is a two-time unified heavyweight champion and Olympic gold medalist.
One of Joshua’s defeats, against Andy Ruiz Jr. in 2019, is considered one of the most shocking in sports history.
Outside of the ring, Joshua is among the most popular athletes in the world with 16.4 million followers on Instagram and brand endorsement deals with Under Armor and Hugo Boss.
Joshua says money isn’t the only reason he has now decided to fight Jake Paul – a social media star turned boxer – on Friday night in Miami on Netflix.
“ “I saw what that meant,” Joshua said of competing on Netflix. “It’s not even my biggest payday; it’s not a question of money. For me, it was more a question of opportunity. I had to show my skills to the world. »
The 36-year-old is coming off a knockout loss to Daniel Dubois in September 2024. That loss stuck with Joshua, who took over a year away from the sport to reset and get back into the mindset that made him one of the best fighters of all time.
“When you lose, you tend to take a closer look at yourself and take the time to figure out what went wrong,” he said on his YouTube channel. “I had to look at the reasons why I lost. And I said to myself, ‘I think I need some time.'”
That moment has now come against a YouTuber who has taken boxing by storm in recent years.
Paul, who surpasses Joshua with 28.2 million followers on Instagram and 20.9 million subscribers on YouTube, turned professional in 2020. He has accumulated a 12-1 record with impressive power and talent, although most of his victories have come against aging MMA fighters (like Ben Askren, Tyron Woodley, Anderson Silva and Nate Diaz) or against boxers well past their prime (Julio Caesar Chávez and Mike Tyson, when he was 58).
Joshua is easily Paul’s toughest test yet – a legitimate star not far from greatness.
“I like to challenge myself. I like to take on the biggest, the best. I said, ‘Anyone, anytime, anywhere’ – I mean it,” Paul said at a press conference. “No one ever thought this would be possible, that we would be here, when I started boxing, and no one thought I was going to win. So join the list and be prepared to be shocked.”
It must be recognized that Joshua does not take the fight lightly. He said he left the UK to avoid local distractions and trained with heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk’s team in Spain.
When asked if an opponent with only five years of experience should even be in the ring with him, Joshua immediately responded.
“I could sit here and try to solve all the things Jake doesn’t do right, but I’m fighting against the Jake who’s going to do everything right on December 19,” he said. “So let me focus on that. He’s a good person, he does his thing, [has a] a great team around him, gets the job done, and that’s why he’s sitting here now. Anyone in the world works harder than anyone else deserves to be a favorite, and he is currently a favorite in the boxing game. »
