Jake Paul responds to fears Anthony Joshua fight won’t happen as rival has bold theory

Jake Paul has hit back at Ryan Garcia’s suggestion that his clash with Anthony Joshua ultimately won’t take place.

Paul stunned the boxing world by announcing he would take on former two-time heavyweight world champion Anthony Joshua on December 19 in Miami.

With a month left to go, the pair came face-to-face for the first time in a launch press conference stateside.

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The YouTuber-turned-boxer is taking on a dangerous challenge, having fought just once at heavyweight, against a far out of shape Mike Tyson last November.

And the task at hand looked even more daunting as Joshua towered over him during their opening face-off.

There is a six inch height difference between the pair, with the 6ft 6ins giant dwarfing the 6ft Paul, who also has far less experience than the talented heavyweight.

Ryan Garcia’s theory over Anthony Joshua fight

And boxing superstar Ryan Garcia decided to take to social media to post a theory that was backed by thousands.

Garcia, a rival of Paul who has suggested Paul should fight him in the future, was quick to spot the huge gulf in size between the two fighters.

He wrote: “I seriously doubt this Jake vs Anthony fight takes place.

“It’s too much of a disadvantage, just don’t make sense. After the press conference that’s apparent.

“That’s not a knock on Jake HUGE BALLS. And I think he’s gotten much better, but it don’t make sense.”

Many boxing fans quickly agreed in the comments, and ‘King Ry’ had sparked a fierce debate.

Jake Paul’s response to Ryan Garcia’s theory

Garcia’s suggestion angered Paul who quickly took to his own account to issue a snappy response.

He wrote: “What don’t make sense is you fighting for a WBC belt [clash with Mario Barrios] after coming off an a** whooping by Rolly [Romero] and five other things I could bring up.

“But hey, that’s no knock on you, you have big… nah you ain’t having big nothing.”

He then added: “This will be the biggest upset in boxing history. Don’t doubt destiny.”

Despite concerns, Paul is adamant he will step into the ring and is hoping to record one of boxing’s biggest upsets ever.

The clash will go on his and Joshua’s professional records, and he is confident he can put the biggest stain yet on the Briton’s stellar resume.

Irrespective of backlash, Paul is making waves in the squared circle, and with it comes huge commercial interest and he is set to bank another mammoth $70 million purse.

Promoter Eddie Hearn says he misled Jake Paul’s representatives by claiming Anthony Joshua was heavier than he was in order to agree a favourable weight stipulation for their fight.

Briton Joshua, a former two-time unified heavyweight champion, will face the YouTuber-turned-boxer at the Kaseya Center in Miami on 19 December.

Joshua has weighed more than 250lb (17st 12lb) in each of his past three fights, but must come in under 245lb (17st 7lb). Both fighters will wear regulation 10oz gloves.

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“I spoke to AJ and he was sitting at 265lb (18st 13lb) or something like that. I think I told Nakisa [Bidarian – co-founder of Most Valuable Promotions] that he was 290lb (20st) or something like that,” Hearn told the 5 Live Boxing podcast.

The fight, streamed live on Netflix, is scheduled for eight three-minute rounds.

It will be a professional contest between one of Britain’s most decorated heavyweights and a former Disney Channel actor who has reinvented himself as a pay-per-view attraction.

“I said I’m not interested in balloon gloves and two-minute rounds but he said it was a real fight. I asked if it was 10 rounds or eight rounds – they said fine to eight,” Hearn added.

“They said ‘the only thing is that Jake will weigh about 220lb (15st 10lb) or 225lb (16st 1lb) and we want AJ to come down in weight’.

“He’s a heavyweight and hasn’t cut weight before. They said, ‘look we’re not being funny and it’s not that we need an advantage but we need you to have some disadvantage’.”

Paul, 28, holds a 12-1 professional record built mostly against limited or faded opposition, with his only defeat coming against Tommy Fury in 2023.

“People keep playing back old interviews where I said Jake Paul is average – I stand by that,” Hearn said.

“He’s improved a lot, but he’s not a world-class fighter. He’s maybe top 60 at cruiserweight. He trains properly and spars hard, but this is just different.”

Despite criticism that the bout is a mismatch designed to deliver Joshua, 35, an easy payday, Hearn insists his fighter remains focused on long-term plans.

“This isn’t ‘we’re fighting Jake Paul and retiring’. We’ve got massive plans for 2026,” he said.

“We’re going to have a run-out here, nick a career-high payday, and then go back into camp for serious stuff next year.”

There they stood face-to-face in public for the very first time.

Needless to say Jake Paul looked, well, small compared to his opponent next month, former world heavyweight champion and current top heavyweight contender Anthony Joshua.

Everyone knew that Joshua was the bigger of the two men. It just really struck home seeing the fighters standing before each other at their pre fight press conference on Friday. Joshua looked to be about half a foot taller than Joshua, who is no small man himself. Paul, however, exuded confidence, as always.

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“I like to challenge myself,” he told the gathered media. Suffice to say the man really has challenged himself but good this time around. Give Paul credit. He knows how to market a fight and he’s not a half bad fighter either. And, as he made clear on Friday, he’s more or less been doing the seemingly impossible for a while now. Who after all ever could have imagined that a social media star could become perhaps the biggest name in boxing? And yet here we are. The truth can’t be denied. However, this doesn’t look good for Paul. It really doesn’t. Joshua is a world-class fighter who is bigger, faster and stronger than his American counterpart. It is, when all is said and done hard to see Paul pulling out the victory next month when he meets Joshua in the ring.

“He’s one of the best heavyweights ever,” Paul said of Joshua, “but I believe that fighting a smaller man is oftentimes harder as a heavyweight because of the speed difference and because of the foot speed, because of the angles, because of the head being off of the center.” The man has a point, by the way. One can see Jack Dempsey on YouTube pummeling the far taller Jess Willard for the heavyweight title way back in 1919. Dempsey however was a ranked contender and an extraordinarily skilled fighter. Paul is neither of those things.

And while it’s admittedly true that pretty much anything can happen in boxing, the chances of Paul pulling off the upset are really profound. Like Mike Tyson-Buster Douglas profound. Again, though, stranger things have happened. Against a focused, relaxed Joshua, who doesn’t overlook him, though, Paul may find himself really taking a beating this time around. Here’s hoping that doesn’t happen. No one wants to see a fighter get truly hurt. It isn’t like Paul hasn’t asked for this fight to go down though. This is all his idea and he knows what he’s doing, or at least he should.

The announcement this week that Jake Paul would be facing off against Anthony Joshua next month live on Netflix in a professionally sanctioned eight-round heavyweight fight shocked the boxing world.

While Paul has had a series of professional fights, none have been close to the level of opponent that he will come face-to-face with at the Kaseya Center in Miami. The 6ft 6in frame of Joshua will be unlike anything that The Problem Child has faced during his career and many have raised concerns about the safety of the YouTube sensation.

The American has already posted a video to his channel, titled ‘This is what you wanted’ which alludes to the fight with Anthony Joshua. Not only that, though, he also addresses the fight cancellation with Gervonta Davis and also the list of opponents he considered before settling on the Brit. It also shows his family reacting to the news, with his mother, father, and brother, Logan Paul, all seemingly shocked at his decision.

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At the beginning of the video, the 28-year-old can be seen laying on a sun lounger. As part of a comedic skit, Paul reads aloud a list of his potential opponents from pieces of paper, before landing on AJ and then addressing the camera face on to explain how the opportunity came about.

Unlike some of his opponents in the past, Jake was very respectful of the former two-time heavyweight champion in this video. He mentioned the Brit’s amazing knockout record and also talked about his Olympic triumph. When doing so, Paul said: “While he was winning Olympic gold, I was filming Vines in high school.”

He joked about how different his life looked back then and how much Joshua had already achieved in his career. He also mentioned Eddie Hearn not believing in him that he would never take this fight. The pair have had history with Hearn attempting to sue Paul after the YouTube star claimed in a 2022 interview with iFL TV that Hearn’s company, Matchroom Boxing, were paying veteran judge Glenn Feldman to score fights in favour of his fighters. The pair also clashed during the trilogy of fights between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano, having been representatives of the opposing fighters.

Also in the video, Paul made reference to Gevonta ‘Tank’ Davis, who he was supposed to fight before new serious allegations came out against the current lightweight champion. The American said: “He had a past of many arrests and accusations, but everyone has a past. When you bring the past into the present with domestic violence, you’re out period.”

Video: Jake Paul Addresses Everything

It is clear that it would be wrong to entertain such a fight, with Paul’s focus now firmly on Joshua, who is near on twice the size of Tank.

Paul also stated that he’s doing something that ‘no one else has done before’ and claimed that he is ‘entering the lion’s den’ to fight the 6ft 6in frame of Anthony Joshua. While most don’t give Jake Paul a chance in this fight, the fact he is even capable of getting this opportunity to fight such a high-profile heavyweight is testament to his business acumen. Whichever way that the fight plays out, it will definitely attract one of the highest viewing figures of any boxing event in 2025.

Jake Paul let slip private texts with Anthony Joshua as blockbuster fight announced

Jake Paul has already locked horns with Anthony Joshua in a war of words before their blockbuster bout was officially confirmed. Paul and Joshua are set to clash on a card dubbed Judgement Day next month.

The YouTuber-turned-boxer, who only turned professional five years ago, was scheduled to face lightweight champion Gervonta Davis this month in an exhibition but the contest was scrapped. The 28-year-old has wasted little time in revealing his next adversary. The American will square off against two-time unified WBO, WBA and IBF heavyweight world champion Joshua on December 19 in a fight that will be broadcast on Netflix. Both combatants have already exchanged barbs ahead of their showdown, particularly through a text message conversation earlier this year which Paul revealed.

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“He [Joshua] DM’d me today like saying ‘LOL’ to one of my training clips and then I sent him a ‘LOL’ with a picture of him getting knocked out by Daniel Dubois,” Paul disclosed in June.

“And so I guess like we’re kind of s*** talking, behind the scenes a bit. But I have a lot of love for Anthony Joshua. I think this type of stuff is funny and he’s a great guy.”

Both pugilists are confident ahead of what promises to be a captivating encounter, with Paul boasting he’ll send Joshua to sleep. Paul declared: “This isn’t an AI simulation. This is Judgment Day. A professional heavyweight fight against an elite world champion in his prime.

“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. To the people of the United Kingdom, I am sorry. On Friday, December 19, under the lights in Miami, live globally only on Netflix, the torch gets passed and Britain’s Goliath gets put to sleep.”

Joshua is just as confident. The last time the Brit faced an opponent who didn’t have extensive boxing experience, he savagely knocked out former UFC champion Francis Ngannou in Saudi Arabia. AJ declared: “Jake or anyone can get this work. No mercy. I took some time out and I’m coming back with a mega show. It’s a big opportunity for me.

“Whether you like it or not, I’m here to do massive numbers, have big fights and break every record whilst 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.”

Joshua stands at 6ft 6in and typically weighs 18 stone. This represents a substantial four stone advantage over Paul, who usually competes at 14st 4lb. Paul is also five inches shorter. Nakisa Bidarian, who co-founded the promotional company MVP with Paul, remains just as bullish as his partner, despite the enormous disparity in height and weight.

“Everyone laughed when Jake Paul said in March that he wanted to fight AJ in 2026,” declared Bidarian, “Well, plans changed, and in under two weeks, MVP and Netflix have made one of the biggest fights of all time. Now, as only Jake Paul could and would do, he’s fighting one of the most fearsome boxers in the world. Joshua has every advantage in this fight, except one – the delusional confidence of Jake Paul, and if anyone can shock the world, it’s him.”

Anthony Joshua makes hilarious Netflix request hours after signing $65million Jake Paul fight

Anthony Joshua has just signed one of the most lucrative deals of his career – but now he wants a favor worth just $7 from Netflix.

The two-time unified heavyweight champion was due to have an unannounced run-out fight in December that would have earned him around $1million after 14 months of inactivity. But he has stumbled into a fight with Jake Paul, which will earn him a reported £50million, or around $65million.

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Joshua has pocketed hundreds of millions throughout his legendary career, including multiple paydays as a headliner in Saudi Arabia. But this is a strange Christmas treat that he has been offered for an astronomical sum.

Anthony Joshua pleads for free Netflix subscription after signing for Jake Paul fight

Despite the fact that he is about to add tens of millions to his already staggering net worth reported to be around $152million, Anthony Joshua has called for one more favor from Netflix. The broadcaster will air his fight with Paul as part of their subscription, but his household may not even be able to watch.

Joshua has been signed with DAZN for years, fighting exclusively on their platform. And it seems that he may not even have a Netflix account judging by a tongue in cheek Instagram story where he asked the streamer “Can I get a company username and password please?”

It has been reported that DAZN were paid a considerable sum to allow Joshua to fight on another platform. Katie Taylor has done similar deals on a much smaller scale in the past year for her two Netflix meetings with Amanda Serrano.