Jake Paul vs Anthony Joshua Preview Dec. 19th, 2025
Jake Paul of Cleveland, Ohio will be back in the ring this Friday, December 19th when he takes on former WBA/IBF/IBO/WBO World Champion Anthony Joshua of Watford, England. The eight-round heavyweight tilt from Miami, Florida can be seen live in most nations on Netflix. Joshua hasn’t fought since September, 2024 when he was dropped in the first, third and fourth rounds and then knocked out in the fifth by Daniel Dubois in a shot at the IBF Title. Joshua also fought six months earlier when he knocked out mixed-martial artist Francis Ngannou in the second round. Paul’s last outing came in June when he beat former WBC Middleweight Boss Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. via a 10-round unanimous decision. In his previous fight in November, 2024 he beat an ancient Mike Tyson by an eight-round unanimous decision.
Paul vs Joshua Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Jake Paul + 550
- Anthony Joshua -950
My Pick
The 28-year-old Paul enters the ring with a mark of 12-1 with 7 Ko’s and has boxed 70 rounds since making his pro boxing debut in 2020. He stands 6-feet-1-inch tall with a 76-inch reach and has decent power in his fists as 58.3 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage including three of the past five after going the distance in the previous three. He also possesses decent enough boxing skills for somebody who made his name on You Tube and appears to be taking take the sport somewhat seriously.
As for his list of opponents so far, at least most of them have at least had some type of fighting background. He’s taken on Ali Eson Gib; former NBA player Nate Robinson; Ben Askren; Tyron Woodley (twice); Anderson Silva; Tommy Fury; Nate Diaz; Andre August; Ryan Bourland; Mike Perry; Mike Tyson and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
He stopped Gib in the first round; Robinson in the second round; Askren in the first round and Woodley in the sixth round of their rematch after fighting to an eight-round split decision win in their first meeting. He then beat Silva by eight-round unanimous decision after dropping him in the final round and was beaten by a mediocre boxer in Tommy Fury by 10-round split decision. Paul then bounced back with his wins over Diaz, August, Bourland, Perry, Tyson and Chavez. He beat Diaz by a 10-round unanimous decision then stopped both August and Bourland in the first round and Perry in the sixth.
The 36-year-old Joshua is a former 2012 Olympic gold medalist who won the IBF Title in his 16th pro bout by stopping Charles Martin in the second round in 2016. He enters the fight with a record of 28-4 with 25 Ko’s. He ended his first 14 pro bouts and 16 of his first 18 within the first three rounds and 89.3 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage. He’s gone the distance in four of his last nine fights though and has lost four of the past 10. However his last three wins have all been by stoppage.
Joshua stopped Wladimir Klitschko in the 11th round in 2017 to claim the WBA Title and vacant IBO Crown. He added the WBO Belt with a unanimous decision win over Joseph Parker the next year but lost all of his belts in 2019 when Andy Ruiz stopped him in the seventh round in Joshua’s first fight outside of the UK. He beat Ruiz by unanimous decision in their rematch six months later to regain the titles. Joshua defended them once by stopping Kubrat Pulev in the ninth round a year later and lost them again when he ran into Oleksandr Usyk in September, 2021 and also lost the rematch 11 months later by unanimous and split decisions respectively.
Joshua also has wins over Jermaine Franklin, Otto Wallin, Robert Helenius, Carlos Takam, Alexander Povetkin, Eric Molina, Dominic Breazeale, Dillian Whyte and Kevin Johnson along the way. His chin has always been a bit of a question mark and his power seemed to have evaded him for a spell. As far as his chin goes, Klitschko had him down and apparently out in the sixth round in 2017, but Joshua came back and stopped him. He was also dropped four times by Ruiz in their first fight and rocked a couple of times by Usyk. And of course, Dubois decked him four times and knocked him out last year.
After turning pro in 2013, Joshua has racked up 167 rounds of pro experience. He measures 6-feet-6-inches tall with an 82-inch reach so has a five-inch edge in reach on Paul as well as six inches in reach. There is a weight limit in this bout as Joshua isn’t supposed to weigh in any heavier than 245 lbs. The heaviest Paul has weighed in for a fight was 227 lbs against Mike Tyson. Joshua is arguably a bit too muscle bound, but possesses pretty good boxing skills even if he is a bit robotic. He has decent mobility and upper body movement as well as a stiff jab but usually tries to stay away from slugfests if possible these days while he attempts to box his opponents and use his size to advantage.
The reason Joshua now tries to avoid going toe-to-toe and prefers to box his opponents, such as he did in the rematch with Ruiz, is because he has the habit of losing his legs when getting nailed on the chin. Of course, he also has to stand his ground and fight back when tested though so this has proven to be a bit of a dilemma for him and it was his downfall in last year’s loss to Dubois. He usually attempts to use his jab and boxing skills against pro boxers but may try to simply nail Paul with something solid as early as possible to test his chin.
Prediction…
Joshua is eight years older than Paul with a ton of experience and a big size advantage, meaning Paul has to work his way inside and that could be quite dangerous. Joshua’s also an Olympic and former two-time world heavyweight champion with tons of power. But he’s also known for having somewhat of a glass chin. Paul has some potential as a boxer due to his age, footwork and willingness to learn but he may have bitten off more than he can chew here. We’ll know if that’s the case once Joshua lands a clean shot on him. It’s always difficult to predict these types of fights as we don’t know if it’s scripted or will be nothing more than a glorified sparring session and a pure money grab. Each viewer will have to decide for themselves what they’re about to witness, especially if they’re going to wager on the fight. Joshua definitely has the power and skills to handle Paul but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s going to win. Anything can happen here but if it’s a true fight then Joshua should knock Paul out. If he isn’t able to stop him though, it could be closer than many fans think.
Joshua’s experience and one-punch power may do the trick.
Play Joshua -950 @ BetOnline.ag
Check out my recent boxing betting picks to see my current form.
Anthony Joshua betting • Jake Paul betting