The matchup feels improbable: social media star-turned-boxer Jake Paul stepping into the ring with former world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua. Yet Paul and his team insist this is not a stunt — it’s a fight he has been preparing for.
Paul’s rise in boxing has been unconventional. He has beaten ex-UFC fighters and professionals such as Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, and even participated in a high-profile exhibition with an older Mike Tyson. Joshua, by contrast, is a textbook heavyweight — an Olympic gold medallist in 2012, twice a unified world champion, and renowned for devastating knockout power.
Despite the mismatch on paper, Nakisa Bidarian — who co-founded Most Valuable Promotions with Paul — says Paul has had this bout in his sights for months. “The fight is called Jake versus Joshua and I very much expect Jake to come out the victor,” Bidarian told Sky Sports News. He added that Paul has been planning the contest since March and has been preparing for it “this entire time.”
Preparation, according to Bidarian, has been intensive. Paul has built a custom gym focused on boxing, enlisted top trainers and secured elite sparring partners, including former cruiserweight champion turned leading heavyweight contender Lawrence Okolie. The team emphasizes that Paul is spending “every minute of every day focused on how to beat Anthony Joshua.”
Bidarian acknowledges the obvious risk: Joshua is a heavy hitter who can end a fight with one punch. “Does he go in there with the risk of getting knocked out? Absolutely. That’s what boxing is about and Anthony Joshua is one of the biggest boxers, biggest punchers, most devastating knockout artists that exist,” he said.
He also pushed back against the idea that a competitive or even unlikely Paul victory would be viewed as scripted. If the fight runs into the later rounds and goes to a decision, Bidarian argues, reactions like “Oh this must have been something that was fixed” would only underline how surprising Paul’s achievement would be. And if Paul were stopped, he said, critics would have to acknowledge the step up in class — getting in the ring with AJ’s experience and knockout power just 13 fights into a career is no small feat.
The bout is scheduled for December 19, and whether seen as a major upset or a stepping stone for Paul, it has already captured attention precisely because it looks so unlikely on paper.