Nakisa Bidarian has heralded an “incredible day” with the news that Jake Paul will fight former two-time world heavyweight Anthony Joshua next month.
They will fight at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida, on December 19 on Netflix.
Paul had mentioned his hopes of Joshua publicly several times before, and when his bout with Gervonta Davis – set for this month – fell out due to “Tank’s” serious out of the ring woes, Paul was left looking for another opponent to come in.
Bidarian, CEO of Most Valuable Promotions who works with Paul, told Sky Sports Boxing: “It’s an incredible day. Jake thought of this in March this year and said, ‘I want to fight Anthony Joshua.’ People laughed then. I was here at Sky Sports in July, the question was asked, ‘do you see this happening?’ And our plan was to do this in March or April 2026. “Plans changed and Jake stood up and said: ‘I want to face Joshua now,’ so it’s Jake vs Joshua, Friday, December 19th.”
Bidarian said Joshua would not be allowed to weigh more than 245lbs on fight night. He weighed 244.5lbs for his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk in 2022, but has come in at 250lbs or just over in his five fights since. He weighed 240lbs for the first Usyk fight and was 230lbs for his pro debut in 2013.
Paul-Joshua will take place over eight three-minute rounds and the boxers will wear 10oz gloves.
