Anthony Joshua and Jake Paul will fight in a professionally sanctioned main event on December 19 in Miami, Florida.
The controversial contest was confirmed today by Most Valuable Promotions and Netflix, and follows on from Paul’s exhibition vs Gervonta Davis being pulled.
Reports suggest that the fight will be eight rounds with ten ounce gloves, though there is one restriction for the big-punching Brit that is unheard of for heavyweights.
Speaking on Sky Sports when breaking the news, MVP co-founder Nakisa Bidarian revealed that Joshua must not weigh in above 245lbs — a number of which he last saw on the scales in his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk in 2022.
“So there’s a lot of discussions around the weight. Joshua fought Usyk twice. Both of those times Usyk was 221 pounds, Joshua was 240-245. When Jake fought Mike Tyson last year [he was] 227 pounds. I expect Jake will come in anywhere between 225 and 230, and Anthony Joshua has a weight limit of 245 pounds.”
Joshua weighed in at 244.5lbs when he was beaten for a second time by the Ukrainian great. In his fights since, he has been over 250lbs consistently, with a high of 255 and, most recently, 252 when facing Daniel Dubois in August of 2024 in what would become the fourth loss of his career. A catchweight for a heavyweight bout is a bizarre concept, but so is this contest in general.
On the controversy that the fight will be met with, Bidarian said that it is similar, or an improvement in his eyes, to ‘AJ’s win over Francis Ngannou back in 2024.
“I would say it’s much less of a mismatch than what you saw with AJ and Francis Ngannou — a massive man but relatively no boxing experience. I would say it’s much less of a mismatch than AJ’s ninth or tenth fight against guys who’d been knocked out 20-25 times, given AJ’s pedigree. Jake is built for the big moments. Do I think it’s dangerous for Jake Paul? Absolutely. Do I think it’s also dangerous for Anthony Joshua? 100%.”
Ngannou turned down the opportunity to face Paul recently, calling it an insult.
Joshua and Paul will come face-to-face this Friday at a launch press conference.
