Yes, it’s real. Former heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (pictured) vs. Youtuber turned boxer Jake Paul is now on the boxing schedule. It will be a legacy-defining [eight-round] fight for Paul. It will be shown live on Netflix on Friday, December 19th from the Casey Center in Miami. Here is the Netflix announcement:
Paul has spent years saying he wanted to test himself against one of the sport’s biggest punchers — the kind of fighter most pros spend a lifetime avoiding. Now he’s getting exactly what he asked for. On Dec. 19th, Paul will step into the ring with Joshua, the former two-time unified heavyweight world champion, Olympic gold medalist, and one of the most devastating finishers of the modern era. The eight-round professional heavyweight bout will stream live globally at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT — only on Netflix and included in all plans.
The matchup unites Paul, the sport’s most-watched fighter whose showmanship has redefined modern boxing and shattered records at every turn, with Joshua, one of boxing’s most accomplished, respected, and feared punchers — a global icon who twice unified the heavyweight division and has headlined sold-out stadiums across the UK and beyond.
But this didn’t come out of nowhere. In a previous interview with Netflix ahead of a since-canceled fight against Gervonta “Tank” Davis, Paul floated Joshua’s name as the kind of test he eventually wanted. “Anthony Joshua,” Paul said when asked what fight he was manifesting next. “100%. I want a challenge. I want challenges always.”
Paul has spent the last five years transforming from a viral disruptor to a genuinely dangerous contender. The American pride of Puerto Rico has picked off names like Tyron Woodley, Anderson Silva, and Nate Diaz on his way up, stacking knockouts, shaking up expectations, and drawing some of the largest audiences the sport has ever seen.
Paul’s leap into the heavyweight ranks last year, with a win over [58 year-old] Mike Tyson, was a global spectacle that shattered viewership records with 108 million people tuning in. In June 2025, Paul followed that momentum with a unanimous-decision victory over former world champion Julio César Chávez Jr.
Joshua has spent the last decade building one of the most accomplished heavyweight résumés in modern boxing. After winning Olympic gold for Great Britain at London 2012, Joshua rocketed through the pro ranks, claiming his first world title in 2016 with a dominant stoppage of Charles Martin. A year later, he delivered the kind of career-defining moment fighters dream about: an unforgettable war with Wladimir Klitschko in front of 90,000 fans at Wembley Stadium that unified the division and cemented his place as the sport’s newest superstar.
Joshua went on to collect and defend the WBO, WBA, and IBF titles, turning Wembley into his personal home arena and racking up victories over Joseph Parker and Alexander Povetkin. His unbeaten streak ended in his 2019 US debut against Andy Ruiz Jr. at Madison Square Garden, but Joshua returned six months later in Saudi Arabia to win the rematch and become a two-time unified heavyweight champion.
Even after setbacks, Joshua never shied away from elite competition. He scored a knockout of Kubrat Pulev, went 24 rounds with pound-for-pound great Oleksandr Usyk, and rebuilt under trainer Derrick James in Dallas. Then he returned to London for a wide points win over Jermaine Franklin. He followed that with a short-notice knockout of Robert Helenius, a dominant performance against Otto Wallin in Saudi Arabia, and a ferocious second-round knockout of Francis Ngannou — a finish that many considered 2024’s Knockout of the Year.
In September 2024, Joshua fought for the IBF title again, losing to fellow Brit Daniel Dubois. Now, still chasing his goal of becoming a three-time heavyweight world champion, he meets Jake Paul in Miami, bringing with him one of the most explosive knockout records of his era.
