Anthony Joshua and Jake Paul will face each other in a heavyweight fight in Miami on 19 December, it has been confirmed.
Rumours of the fight between Paul, a YouTuber-turned-boxer, and Joshua, the British former heavyweight champion of the world, had been trailed earlier this month and Paul’s company, Most Valuable Promotions, confirmed the news on Monday. The fight will be shown live on Netflix.
“This isn’t an AI simulation. This is Judgment Day,” said Paul. “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 19 December, under the lights in Miami, live globally only on Netflix, the torch gets passed and Britain’s Goliath gets put to sleep.”
Joshua, the 36-year-old former two-time unified heavyweight champion, has not fought since being stopped by Daniel Dubois in September 2024.
“Jake or anyone can get this work. No mercy,” said Joshua, who won gold at the 2012 Olympics. “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.”
Paul had originally been scheduled to fight Gervonta Davis on 14 November in Miami, but the event was cancelled after Davis was removed from the card amid domestic violence allegations.
Netflix’s first boxing show – Paul’s bout with Mike Tyson – became the most-streamed sporting event in history, peaking at 65m live concurrent streams and drawing an estimated 108m average live viewers worldwide. The broadcast accounted for 56% of all US television viewing during the fight’s main event hour and was the platform’s No 1 title that week across 78 countries. Paul and Joshua are set to make tens of millions from December’s fight.
Joshua will be the heaviest fighter Paul has faced so far in his boxing career. Although Tyson is also a former heavyweight champion, Joshua is 23 years younger and still close to him prime.
“They say be careful what you wish for, kind of feel like that’s all I need to say,” Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn said. “Two of the biggest names in the sport will collide on 19 December. Whilst I admire Jake’s balls, he’s going to find out the hard way in Miami.”
