Yes, it’s really happening. The bombshell news of Jake Paul finalizing a fight with Anthony Joshua took the boxing world by storm last week. On Monday, Netflix made it all official, announcing the fight that will take place in Miami, Florida with the tagline “Judgment Day“.
If you ask anyone, they will say that Paul is set to finally get knocked out by an opponent. Even UFC president Dana White believes that’s exactly what will happen. Despite the massive difference in boxing experience and the huge size and power advantage Joshua has, fans are still skeptical that there won’t be some sort of equalizer to make this a fair fight. In a way, Most Valuable Promotions co-founder Nakisa Bidarian has confirmed there will at least be one safeguard for Paul.
Anthony Joshua has a 245 pound weight limit for Jake Paul fight
According to Bidarian, Joshua must weigh in at less than 245 pounds in order for the fight to go ahead. While that’s still expected to be a big weight difference to Paul, it does force Joshua to stay lighter than he usually does for fights.
So there’s a lot of discussions around the weight. Joshua fought Usyk twice. Both of those times Usyk was 221 pounds, Joshua was 240-245. When Jake fought Mike Tyson last year [Paul was] 227 pounds. I expect Jake will come in anywhere between 225 and 230, and Anthony Joshua has a weight limit of 245 pounds.
As Bidarian points out, the parallel for Joshua are the Oleksandr Usyk fights, as the Ukrainian has a similar build to Paul in terms of height and ideal weight. That could prove beneficial for Paul, as Joshua struggled against Usyk at the lighter weight. Joshua generally weighs in over 250 pounds, especially in all of his recent bouts.
While that could be an advantage for Paul, there is no point in comparing him to Usyk, one of the best pure boxers the sport has ever seen. One punch from Joshua could change the entire fight. Paul coming in much lighter could help in avoiding some of those punches, at least.
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