Key events
Caroline Dubois retains WBC lightweight title
Whatever you want from tonight's main event, there are four women's world title fights on the undercard worth watching. Two of them are already in the books, and two more are yet to come.
Caroline Dubois retained her WBC lightweight title on her US debut with a 10-round unanimous decision over Camila Panatta.. Dubois (12-0-1, 5 KOs), a 2020 Olympic competitor and one of Britain's most respected young professionals, found her range early and wore her opponent down with constant pressure and pinpoint accuracy, dropping Panatta with a controlled right hook near the end of the sixth round.
Panatta (8-3-1, 1 KO), an Italian southpaw based in nearby West Palm Beach who has sparred extensively with elite champions like Katie Taylor, continued to push forward but was no match for the Londoner, who won by the same score of 99-90 according to the three ringside judges. This marked the third successful title defense for the 24-year-old – younger sister British heavyweight Daniel Dubois – who became a full-fledged world champion last year after quickly rising through the ranks.
Earlier, Jocasta Valle scored a bloody majority victory over Yadira Bustillos to retain her WBC strawweight title by scores of 98-92, 96-94 and 95-95 in a crowd-pleasing bout that saw both women land a total of 1,045 punches in 20 blistering minutes. Valle (34-3, 10 KOs), a three-division world champion from Costa Rica and a figure on most pound-for-pound lists, dictated the rhythm with fast combinations, repeatedly out-scoring her opponent in the early rounds.
Bustillos (11-2, 2 KOs), a fast-rising contender with a strong amateur resume, continued to work through a series of head clashes that left both women bloodied early on, but Valle's experience and precision carried her through the tape.
Preamble
Welcome to Miamiwhere heavyweight boxing doesn't appear too often, but when it does, understands the value of theater.
More than 60 years ago, brash 22-year-old Cassius Clay walked into this town as a hopeless contender and became Muhammad Ali, defeating made Sonny Liston quit smoking on his stool and destroyed the sport's notion of who belongs at the top. This fight was a real disappointment, a sports shock that changed the history of boxing. Today's fight borrows the setting and symbolism, if not the competitive balance.
Jake Paul v Anthony Joshua exists at the intersection of boxing that has been circling for decades: the collision of pedigree and platform, resume and accomplishments, belts and carrying capacity. It's unapologetically marketed as a global streaming spectacle – eight rounds of heavyweight action, backed by a nine-figure investment from Netflix and engineered for maximum virality – and yet it still takes place inside a ring governed by the same unforgiving rules that have always applied.
Joshua arrives as a sports spotter. A former two-time world heavyweight champion, Olympic champion and one of the most devastating punchers of his time, he is also a fighter in need of recalibration. after being stopped by Daniel Dubois in September 2024. At 36, with his long-mooted showdown with Tyson Fury still on the horizon, this should be a reset: a chance to restore credibility, restore order and remind everyone what a real heavyweight looks like.
Meanwhile, Paul appears as the embodiment of destruction. A YouTuber by birth, a boxer by willpower, he spent the better part of five years dare to take up sports in order to take it seriously while building a resume that lives in boxing's parallel circle: former MMA champions, fellow influencers, faded ex-champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and last year's made-for-Netflix fight against 58-year-old Mike Tyson, who gathered a huge audience and equal parts fascination and disgust. These events were advertised as boxing, but many in the sport treated them as something else: influencer content dressed up in boxing jargon.
This is different. Or at least that's how it should be. Joshua weighs nearly 30 pounds more than Paul, has years of experience at a high level and brings with him the kind of power that has raised genuine safety concerns throughout fight week. The question is not whether Paul belongs here, but how long he can stay safe if he reaches into his pocket and takes chances to win.
So here we are: a true heavyweight, a manufactured spectacle and a sport that is once again exploring the limits of what it can afford in the pursuit of relevance and revenue. Whether tonight ends in a recovery, a breakup, or something stranger, the bell will ring, the impacts will be real, and the consequences will linger long after the tide has died down.
We will have constant updates, key points and instant response from now onwards.
Brian will be here soon. In the meantime, here's a brief description of today's event.
Where and when is the fight?
Tonight's tournament will take place at the Kaseya Center, the 20,000-seat home arena of the NBA's Miami Heat. Walk-ins in the main event between Jake Paul and Anthony Joshua not expected before 10:30 pm ET (3:30 am GMT).
Where can I watch this?
The broadcast will stream live worldwide on Netflix starting at 8:00 pm ET (1:00 am GMT) at no additional cost to subscribers. Before the Paul vs. Joshua fight, there will be three preliminary fights that will be televised.
The first five undercard fights not broadcast on Netflix will be available for free on YouTube channel of the most valuable stocks.
Who else is fighting?
Here's the order of today's undercard (in reverse chronological order):
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Alicia Baumgardner vs. Leila Beaudoin, 12 rounds, for Baumgardner's WBO, IBF and WBA junior lightweight titles
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Anderson Silva – Tyron Woodley, six rounds, heavyweight
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Caroline Dubois vs. Camila Panatta, 10 rounds, for Dubois' WBC women's lightweight title
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Cherneka Johnson vs. Amanda Galle, 10 rounds, for Johnson's undisputed women's bantamweight title
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Jocasta Valle – Yadira Bustillos, 10 rounds, for the WBC Valle women's strawweight title
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Avius Griffin vs. Justin Cardona, eight rounds, welterweight
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Jamal Harvey vs. Kevin Cervantes, six rounds, junior lightweight
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Keno Marley vs. Diara Davis Jr., four rounds, heavyweight
What's at stake?
There are no titles on the line in the eight-round heavyweight bout. Joshua outweighed Paul by nearly 30 pounds at Thursday's weigh-in, coming in at 243.4 pounds to Paul's 216.6 pounds, a disparity that has fueled safety concerns throughout the sport. Despite the criticism, the fight is expected to be one of the most lucrative in boxing history, with the total purse reportedly expected to be around $184 million (£137.4).




