Two-time world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua is in advanced talks to fight YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul in Miami next month, a clash many say is a new low for the sport.
The fight is the latest example of boxing’s new celebrity frontier. The industry is booming thanks to companies such as Misfits, which has made its name promoting high-profile fights between a range of YouTubers, ex-athletes and mixed martial artists. Andrew Tate was recently announced as Misfits CEO.
The mooted clash between Joshua, left, and Paul has been met with cynicism and ridicule from the boxing world and beyond. Paul’s only previous heavyweight bout was an exhibition fight against a then-58-year-old Mike Tyson a year ago, but fighting Joshua would represent one of the most significant mismatches in the sport’s history. Former British heavyweight David Haye told the Sun on Wednesday: “If this fight comes to fruition I genuinely fear for Jake Paul’s life.”
Once the darling of British boxing, having beaten Wladimir Klitschko, Joseph Parker and Dillian Whyte, Joshua’s reputation was derailed by a shock defeat to Mexican Andy Ruiz Jr in June 2019. While his form has never truly recovered, he is still among the world’s most respected heavyweights.
Paul, 28, first gained popularity on the video platform Vine before featuring in Disney Channel films and series, moving into boxing in 2018 as part of the YouTuber boxing trend. At 5ft 5in, he is over a foot shorter, around 50kg lighter and much less experienced than Joshua, raising serious safety concerns. His camp hopes any fight with Joshua would be sanctioned as a professional bout, but it is more likely to be an exhibition fight, with the focus more on entertainment.
Each fighter is expected to earn about £70m from the bout, much more than any of Joshua’s previous clashes. A potential clash is expected to take place on 12 or 19 December and would be broadcast on Netflix, which has pivoted towards boxing and live sports in recent years. In September it broadcast Paul-Tyson, which became the most-streamed sporting event ever at the time with 65m concurrent viewers, and 72,000 watching live inside Texas’s AT&T Stadium.
Netflix did not respond to a request for comment on the safety of the fight.
Photograph by Richard Pelham/Getty Images