Jake Paul knew Anthony Joshua was willing to fight the YouTuber-turned-boxer after the pair shared a brief phone call earlier this year.
Back in March, Paul stunned the world of boxing after he called for a fight with the two-time heavyweight world champion – just four months after his victory over Mike Tyson. “I want to fight Anthony Joshua because I know I will f***ing beat Anthony Joshua’s ass,” he said on his YouTube show BS with Jake Paul. “He doesn’t have a chin and he has no skill and he’s stiff. I love you, Anthony, we’re friends and all this s*** but I want to fight you. I will beat Canelo, I will beat a lot of f***ing people.”
‘AJ’ responded by phoning the 28-year-old and both fighters ended up posting images of the phone call with the caption ‘2026,’ hinting at a potential clash. Despite verbally agreeing to a dust-up, their fight will come a lot sooner than people think after it was confirmed that the two fighters will trade leather on December 19 in Miami.
JUST IN: Why Floyd Mayweather Gets Flamed For AI Thanksgiving Post
Eight months after both men exchanged words over the phone, Paul has finally revealed exactly what was said on the call. “No, he was down. I messaged and said ‘let’s fight. Let’s make it happen. Our teams are going to talk.’ And he was like ‘yeah, I am down. Let’s do it.’ Simple as that.” He added: “We talked even before Gevonta Davis and he said yes then. Really, after Gervonta, we called a bunch of people and he is the one that said yes and was actually down to do it in December.”
The ‘Problem Child’ was due to return to the ring earlier this month against lightweight king Gervonta Davis, but was forced to cancel the event after ‘Tank’ was accused of battery, false imprisonment and kidnapping by an ex-girlfriend. Paul has not fought since his convincing victory over Julio Cesar Chavez Jr back in June, and was eager to get at least one more fight under his belt before the end of the year.
After calling out several stars within the sport of boxing, it was Joshua who accepted the call. Despite the huge disparity in size, the bout will be a professional contest, staged over eight three-minute rounds. The fight will take place at heavyweight, but ‘AJ’ has been informed he cannot weigh more than 245lb for the clash.
Just days after their stunning clash was announced, the two stars met at a launch press conference in Miami. Joshua – who completely and utterly towered over his upcoming foe – vowed to make a statement ahead of his return to the ring. “It’s not a win for me if I just beat him; I need to knock him out,” he said.
“I’m going to break his face and break his body. I’m here to prove I’m the better fighter and will do that until I stop fighting. I’m going to go in there and do a job. I want to hurt him, I’m going to want to really hurt him in the ring. I’m going to come forward and impose myself. I’m going to land heavy punches and expose him to certain tricks in boxing that he maybe hasn’t seen yet. And I’m going to bring him to a different school of boxing that he maybe hasn’t been exposed to yet.”
