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.

Anthony Joshua Will Be Forced To Make A Weight Limit For The First Time Ever In Jake Paul Fight

The long-awaited return of two-time unified world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua has been made official, but not many expected Jake Paul to be in the opposite corner.

Joshua is set to face the Youtuber-turned-fighter in an eight round heavyweight bout on Friday December 19 at the Kaseya Center in Miami — the latest high-profile event to be shown on Netflix via Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions.

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The 36-year-old Olympic Gold Medalist from Watford has been out of action since he suffered the fourth defeat of his career to former IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois in September 2024.

It has been revealed that the controversial main event will be a sanctioned professional bout, eight rounds and with 10oz gloves. There is, however, one notable stipulation.

As revealed on Sky Sports by Most Valuable Promotions CEO Nakisa Bidarian, ‘AJ’ will face a restriction on his weight for the first time in his career.

“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.”

Whilst it remains to be seen whether this condition will have an impact on ‘AJ’, the 36-year-old weighed in at 252.5lbs ahead of his last outing against Daniel Dubois.

As for Paul, the 28-year-old weighed in at 198.5lbs ahead of his June showdown with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, although he did weigh a career heaviest of 228.25lbs before he faced Mike Tyson last November.

On November 12, Mike Coppinger of Ring Magazine made an X post that read, “Anthony Joshua and Jake Paul are finalizing a deal for a heavyweight fight on Netflix in December in Miami, sources tell @ringmagazine. Paul steps up massively to fight the former heavyweight champion after his exhibition with Gervonta Davis was cancelled. Major props to Paul.”

This has been the biggest news of the boxing world by far ever since it was announced. While there had been reports that Paul’s team was reaching out to several big-name boxers in order to try and get a Netflix fight in before the end of 2025, many were skeptical that they would be able to pull it off.

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Few believed that Paul would really be willing to step into the ring against an Olympic gold medalist and former heavyweight world champion like Anthony Joshua, especially on short notice.

However, Paul has seemingly proved a lot of people wrong. And while many are predicting that Paul will get knocked out by Joshua if this fight report is indeed true, Paul deserves a lot of credit for fighting a guy who is 100 pounds heavier and a foot taller than Gervonta.

Eddie Hearn Shuts Down Idea That Jake Paul vs. Anthony Joshua Is Done

Joshua is promoted by Eddie Hearn of Matchroom, who has gone on the record in the past saying that he and Paul’s team have been negotiating a potential bout between these two. However, Hearn seems to have taken exception to Wednesday’s fight report, which was conveyed by Ariel Helwani during a November 12 episode of The Ariel Helwani Show.

“In the midst of all this [Paul vs. Joshua fight reporting], I did reach out to Eddie Hearn,” Helwani said, per an X post from Jed I. Goodman. “And he said, ‘We have spoken, but nothing close. And I doubt he would be so crazy.’ He, being Jake.

“I then asked him, ‘Would you say this report is premature?’ [Hearn] said, ‘Absolutely’.

Therefore, it sounds like this fight is not finalized and that both sides are negotiating. Hearn didn’t seem to appreciate the timing of Coppinger’s announcement, as now it seems that both sides would need to come to terms unless they want the boxing world at their respective throats.

It will be interesting to see when this fight is finalized, and whether it does end up taking place in December like Paul’s team has wanted.