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The unsurprising confirmation of “a colossal global showdown” between Jake Paul and Anthony Joshua arrived on Monday morning with a dull thud. That grand description of an eight-round scrap between a former YouTuber and a former world heavyweight champion was supplied by Paul’s company, Most Valuable Promotions, which also announced that the contest will be screened live on Netflix on 19 December and called Judgment Day.
Boxing operates in a netherworld that appears to have sunk far beyond any fear of judgment, while Paul has always had delusions of grandeur as a novice pro. But even boxing may have to consider its own culpability should Paul be badly hurt and end up in hospital after this fully sanctioned bout with regulation 10oz gloves is held in Miami.
Paul is a brilliant hustler and, until now, he has chosen his opponents with deliberate care to avoid excessive danger. His most obviously successful stunt was to entice a 58-year-old Mike Tyson into the ring last November. It turned out to be the biggest “fight” of 2024, but it was an inevitable charade as Tyson was a shell of the great he had once been. Years of self-abuse, allied to severe depression, a stomach ulcer, a bad knee and acute sciatica, meant Tyson shuffled around the ring and took the odd punch for an astronomical purse.
Joshua is 36 and he has kept a notably low profile since his crushing defeat by Daniel Dubois 14 months ago. His gaze had appeared fixed on a wildly lucrative showdown with Tyson Fury – who lost his past two fights against Oleksandr Usyk.
Last Saturday, before Conor Benn outboxed Chris Eubank Jr, Turki al-Sheikh, the chair of the Saudi Arabian General Entertainment Authority and the man who controls world boxing at its highest level, told 60,000 people at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium that he would put on two massive fights next year. He smiled knowingly when asked if the two-fight deal for Fury-Joshua had been sealed.
Eddie Hearn, the promoter, had said Joshua was planning a tune-up against a journeyman in preparation for Fury. But the offer of a crazy amount of money to meet Paul has taken precedence and will serve as a gentle hit before the real business begins.
Joshua, like Fury, is well past his prime, but he stays in terrific shape and has fought at the peak of the heavyweight division for the past 10 years. He also hits very hard and, should he wish to make some kind of statement about the gulf between genuine fighters and YouTube “disruptors”, he could really hurt Paul.
The suspicion remains that this will turn out to be a more controlled arrangement with Joshua choosing to avoid causing much damage to the man who is going to make him tens of millions of dollars. That gut reaction is confirmed by the fact that their contest has been limited to eight rounds.
after newsletter promotion
Joshua said: “Whether you like it or not, I’m here to do massive numbers, have big fights and break every record while keeping cool, calm and collected. Mark my words, you’ll see a lot more fighters take these opportunities in the future. I’m about to break the internet over Jake Paul’s face.”
Paul responded with his customary swagger: “This isn’t an AI simulation. This is Judgment Day. When I beat Anthony Joshua, every doubt disappears and no one can deny me the opportunity to fight for a world title. To all my haters, this is what you wanted.”
That last line was a clear acknowledgment that if a proper fight breaks out it would be a shock if Joshua did not knock out Paul. After all, in his modest résumé of 13 professional “fights”, Paul has faced only one relatively competent contemporary boxer. But Tommy Fury is not really a boxer at all and he still beat Paul in a cruiserweight bout in 2023.
Paul has since stuck to his usual diet of mock fisticuffs and, as a heavyweight, he was meant to meet Gervonta Davis, a gifted, but troubled world lightweight champion, in a bizarre exhibition this month. But it was cancelled after a lawsuit, citing domestic abuse, was filed against Davis by his ex-girlfriend. Paul, who has been an admirable champion of women’s boxing, lambasted Davis and promised he would find himself a superior opponent.
Joshua has stepped into the void. He and Paul will make a ludicrous amount of money, Netflix will record huge ratings and boxing will seem just a little more broken. Hopefully, there will be no need for Paul to be taken away in an ambulance and we can all find a way to feel a tad less grubby after the circus is over.
