MIAMI – Jake Paul proudly boasts he has become the face of boxing during the past decade. Now the YouTuber-turned-fighter is ready to embark on his riskiest ring venture yet after 13 professional fights featuring a cross section of opponents that lack the active status and talent of his next rival.
Paul will fight two-time heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua on Friday night at the Kaseya Center, home of the NBA’s Miami Heat. The scheduled eight-round bout will be streamed on Netflix without the pay-per-view designation.
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Although the 36-year-old Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs) has not fought since September 2024, when he was knocked out by Daniel Dubois in five rounds, he is the prohibitive favorite to derail Paul’s ambitious fight plans.
“The odds are stacked against me,” Paul said Wednesday in the fighters’ final media appearance before the bout. “There are no sporting teams in history that have gone together where it’s this big of a difference in terms of skills, experience, resume, height, weight. This is going to be the biggest upset in the history of sport and you guys get to witness it.”
In their photo standoff that closed Wednesday’s event, the 6-foot-6 Joshua towered over the 6-1 Paul. Joshua also has a six-inch reach advantage, 82-76. In addition, 12 of Paul’s bouts have been at the 200-pound cruiserweight limit.
The 28-year-old Paul (12-1, 7 KOs) has built his professional record through unconventional methods. He has victories over retired UFC champions Anderson Silva and Nate Díaz and also won a convincing decision against former middleweight titleholder Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
Paul’s ability to entice 58-year-old Mike Tyson to fight him last year further enhanced the circus-like atmosphere that often define his bouts. Yet, the bout against legendary heavyweight champion, which Paul won by unanimous decision, attracted 72,300 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The fight also generated a reported 108 million global views.
For all the followers Paul has won through his social media platforms, he acknowledges there are detractors who view him as an insult to the sport and the fighters who have traveled the arduous trek toward contention and championship opportunities.
“No one has done more for the sport of boxing in the past decade than myself,” said Paul, who also has formed his promotional company that will oversee Friday’s nine-bout card. “I think if people really cared about boxing they’d want me to win.
“I see the angle that they’re coming from – that (Joshua’s) the traditional boxer, that he’s been doing it for his whole life. But I think I’m more important for the sport of boxing. If they actually cared about the sport, they’d want me to win.”
Joshua, who also won an Olympic gold medal representing his native England in the 2012 Summer Games, understands his perceived role as a boxing savior against Paul.
“It just seems I’ve been called in to save the purest of boxing,” Joshua said. “People don’t like the fact that I’m fighting Jake. Whether that concerns me or not is another question. If we look at the people that don’t want me to be here, they want me to put an end to the Jake Paul show. That’s why I have to carry boxing on my back with this fight.”
Joshua’s bout against Paul will be his second in the United States. And Joshua wants to leave the ring Friday with a better outcome than in his debut, when Andy Ruiz Jr. knocked him out in seven rounds to end his first heavyweight reign six years ago at Madison Square Garden.
“It was a tragedy. It was a loss,” Joshua said of his first professional defeat. “But if you’re in sports, it may happen. You may take some losses but the goal is to bounce back. Through tragedy there can always be a great story. This is just part of what my life is.”
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AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports