Anthony Joshua is definitely one of many best boxers of his technology. The Brit is 28-4 with 25 wins through knockout. He’s a two-time unified heavyweight champion and an Olympic gold medalist.
One in all Joshua’s defeats, to Andy Ruiz Jr. in 2019, is taken into account among the many most stunning within the sport’s historical past.
Outdoors the ring, Joshua is among the many hottest athletes on this planet with 16.4 million followers on Instagram and model endorsement offers with the likes of Underneath Armour and Hugo Boss.
Joshua says cash is not the one motive he is now determined to struggle Jake Paul — a social media star-turned-boxer — on Friday night time in Miami on Netflix.
“”I noticed what this meant,” Joshua stated about competing on Netflix. “It is not even my largest payday; it isn’t about cash. For me, it was extra concerning the alternative. I needed to showcase my expertise to the world.”
The 36-year-old is coming off a knockout loss to Daniel Dubois in September 2024. That defeat has caught with Joshua, who took greater than a 12 months away from the game to reset and get again into the mindset that made him among the finest fighters of all time.
“If you lose, you are likely to take a deeper have a look at your self and take time to determine what went flawed,” he stated on his YouTube channel. “I had to have a look at the explanation why I misplaced. And I stated to myself: ‘I believe I want a little bit of time.’”
That point is now towards a YouTuber who has taken boxing by storm in recent times.
Paul, who tops Joshua with 28.2 million Instagram followers and 20.9 million YouTube subscribers, turned professional in 2020. He has amassed a 12-1 file with spectacular energy and talent, although most of his victories have come towards both growing older MMA fighters (like Ben Askren, Tyron Woodley, Anderson Silva and Nate Diaz) or boxers effectively previous their prime (Julio César Chávez and Mike Tyson, when he was 58).
Joshua is by far Paul’s hardest check up to now — a reliable star not far faraway from greatness.
“I wish to problem myself. I wish to tackle the most important, the very best. I stated, ‘Anybody, anytime, anyplace’ — I really imply that,” Paul stated at a information convention. “Nobody ever thought that this might be doable, that we’d be right here, once I first began boxing, and nobody thinks I’m going to win. So be part of the checklist and be able to be shocked.”
To his credit score, Joshua isn’t taking the struggle frivolously. He stated he left the U.Okay. to keep away from distractions regionally and has been coaching with heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk’s workforce in Spain.
Requested whether or not an opponent with simply 5 years’ expertise ought to even be within the ring with him, Joshua instantly shot it down.
“I might sit up right here and try to tackle all of the issues that Jake doesn’t do good, however I’m preventing the Jake that’s going to do every thing good on Dec. nineteenth,” he stated. “So let me give attention to that. He’s a superb particular person, does his factor, [has a] nice workforce round him, places within the work, and that’s why he’s sitting right here now. Anybody on the market on this planet that works more durable than the subsequent particular person deserves to be a front-runner, and he’s a front-runner within the boxing recreation proper now.”
