Fans who have been waiting for Jake Paul's boxing career to collapse may get their wish on Friday night when the social media influencer turned boxer faces the biggest test of his career in the form of two-time world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua.Netflix, 8:00 pm ET).
Paul's career began as more than a sideshow, stopping fellow influencer KSI at a white collar show and then knocking out another influencer, AnEsonGib, in his professional debut. In Paul's second professional fight, he knocked out his former NBA star Nate Robinson is on the undercard of the popular event, which will be headlined by a fight between Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr.
Paul then turned on a number of former UFC fighters, defeating Ben Askren, Tyron Woodley (twice) and Anderson Silva. Silva was the only one of Paul's first five opponents who had any professional boxing experience, leading to Paul's call to “fight a real boxer”.
Paul did just that in his seventh professional fight, and it resulted in his first loss, as Tommy Fury scored a split decision victory in a fight in which Paul was knocked out, but ultimately did not prove active enough to prevail over two of the three ringside judges.
Jake Paul faces his toughest test to date as he makes a smart business decision against Anthony Joshua.
Brian Campbell
After defeating former UFC star Nate Diaz, Paul knocked out back-to-back club level fighters before stopping another former UFC fighter and current BKFC star Mike Perry.
Paul then faced 57-year-old Mike Tyson in a brazen fight in which Tyson was unable to do anything while Paul took the fight to the judges' scorecards. Another victory followed against the aging former world champion when Paul scored a decision victory over Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
Looking at this resume, you can see that Paul almost exclusively dates smaller, older, and/or completely inexperienced boxers.
That won't happen on Friday when Paul faces… many the bigger man is 6ft 6in Joshua, a 2012 Olympic gold medalist and two-time world heavyweight champion.
“Yes, 100%. It's the 2007 Giants vs. Patriots. I mean, the list goes on, but the odds are against me,” Paul said at the final press conference. “There has never been a sports team in history that has come together where there was such a big difference in terms of skill, experience, resume, height, weight, etc. So this is going to be the biggest upset in the history of sports and you guys are going to witness it.”
Although Joshua is past his absolute prime, he is not so far past it that he is unable to compete with the best heavyweights in the world.
After starting his professional career 15-0, Joshua knocked out Charles Martin to capture the IBF heavyweight title. After two successful title defenses, Joshua stopped Wladimir Klitschko to add the WBA belt to his collection. Two fights later, Joshua won his third belt by stopping Joseph Parker for the WBO title.
The Parker fight, the 21st of Joshua's career, marked the first time Joshua's opponent made it to the final bell.
In June 2019, Joshua suffered a shocking TKO loss to Andy Ruiz Jr., losing his status as the unified champion. Ruiz's defeat was one of the biggest in heavyweight boxing history. Paul's fans use him as evidence that Joshua is a vulnerable fighter, even when he is heavily favored.
Joshua took revenge with Ruiz, regaining his three world titles. After a single defense, Joshua finally faced a fighter who was clearly superior to him, losing a September 2021 fight to Oleksandr Usyk and missing out on a rematch the following August.
Joshua has won four of his five fights since the Usyk fight, including a high-profile knockout of former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou, before suffering a brutal knockout loss in his IBF title fight with Daniel Dubois.
Even though Joshua is no longer among the elite of the elite, he remains a talented, strong, big heavyweight and is a fighter unlike any Paul has ever seen in the ring.
“Jake Paul gives me a big challenge and he certainly has a great mindset,” Joshua said. “Great family, wonderful brother, wonderful person. So yeah, it definitely gives me a good challenge. But like I said before, the competition is really good.”
Let's take a closer look at the rest of the undercard with the latest odds before moving on to the main event predictions and expert picks below.
Joshua vs Paul fight card, odds
Odds via DraftKings Bookmaker's office
- Anthony Joshua -1200 vs. Jake Paul +700, heavyweights
- Alicia Baumgardner (c) -1400 vs. Layla Beaudoin +750, unified junior lightweight title
- Anderson Silva -275 vs. Tyron Woodley +210, heavyweight
- Jamal Harvey -3500 vs. Kevin Cervantes +1300, junior lightweight
- Cherneka Johnson (c) -900 vs. Amanda Galle +550, Undisputed Bantamweight Title
- Caroline Dubois (c) -3500 vs. Camila Panatta +1300, WBC lightweight title
- Yocasta Valle (c) -1400 vs. Yadira Bustillos +700. WBC minimum weight title
- Avius Griffin -600 vs. Justin Cardona +400, welterweight
- Keno Marley -10000 vs. Diarra Davis Jr. +1800 Cruiserweight
Where to watch Jake Paul vs Anthony Joshua fight
- Date: December 19
- Location: Kaseya Center – Miami
- Start time: 8:00 PM ET (Main Card)
- How to watch: Netflix (subscription required)
Forecast
Listen, what can I say? If Jake Paul wins, it will be a real shock. It would be a stunning sporting result, and many would refuse to accept it as legal, no matter how little sense the correction made. Joshua is bigger, stronger, more technical, has more power and has high level experience against some of the best fighters in the world. Paul… fought some guys he knew who came into the fight with at least some degree of disadvantage.
Anthony Joshua wins this fight 99 times out of 100. Paul's best attribute is his strength, and landing one big punch and knocking Joshua out is how Paul wins one fight out of 100. It's just very unlikely, and Paul's worst defensive qualities, such as staying on the ropes without throwing punches, leave him open to Joshua's power and sharp punches. In fact, every round that Paul survives is a victory in its own way. Pick: Anthony Joshua TKO 2.
Who will win against Anthony Joshua vs. Jake Paul on December 19th and which big prospect should you target for a huge payday? Visit SportsLine now to see Josh Nagel's best bets for FridayDecember 19, heavyweight fight, all from a combat sports specialist who has been involved in the sport for over 20 years, and find out.
