Jake Paul and Anthony Joshua will square off in a strange fight tonight, pitting a YouTuber-turned-boxer against a former two-time world heavyweight champion.
Joshua is the latter, to avoid any confusion, with the Briton entering Friday’s fight in Miami as a huge favourite. “AJ” holds standout victories over the likes of Wladimir Klitschko, Joseph Parker, Kubrat Pulev, Dillian Whyte and Alexander Povetkin. However, the 36-year-old is entering this bout, which streams live on Netflix, on the back of a brutal stoppage loss to Daniel Dubois in September 2024.
Meanwhile, Paul comes into this contest – a professional bout, with knockouts allowed and standard 10oz gloves in use – with a 12-1 pro record. The American, 28, last fought in June and outpointed former world middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, following a decision win over heavyweight legend Mike Tyson last November.
Tyson was 58 at the time, with the fight proving controversial to fans and pundits but lucrative to the boxers; Paul reportedly took home $40m and Tyson $20m.
Now, Paul and Joshua will seemingly clear even Paul’s payday from that bout – and by some distance.
In the days leading up to the confirmation of this bout in November, the Daily Mail reported, “Sources tell us that a gargantuan prize pot of around £140m [$184m] has been mooted,” seemingly to be split evenly between Joshua and Paul. However, Paul later took to X (formerly Twitter) with a different figure, seemingly referencing the fight purse.
Several days after the Mail’s report was published, Paul tweeted: “Stop asking me. $267 Million.” That works out at approximately £200m.
Sports and entertainment accountant Oriana Morrison told The Independent on Tuesday: “Even if the lower figure – the rumoured $184m purse – is true, AJ could bring home $92m [£70m]. We haven’t seen a boxing match with a purse at this level since Mayweather vs Pacquiao in 2015 or even Mayweather vs McGregor in 2017. It’s higher than any Saudi purse to date.”
Morrison, who was referencing Floyd Mayweather’s bouts with Manny Pacquiao and Conor McGregor, continued: “The US never really got the chance to savour Anthony Joshua’s talent and charisma. This is the perfect setting for this fight and definitely a turning point for boxing in the US.
“MVP [Most Valuable Promotions, Paul’s company] and Jake Paul are dragging new audiences into boxing. They’re forcing boxing to modernise its promotion and pay fighters better than established promoters.”
