Jake Paul still has jokes for Anthony Joshua, which is a bold choice for a guy whose jaw Joshua broke. Yahoo Sports reported Wednesday that Paul taunted the former heavyweight champion during a pre-fight press conference faceoff. The crossover act that turned Paul vs. Joshua into a mainstream event is apparently still running.
The Yahoo report doesn’t lay out exactly what Paul said, so I’m not going to invent a transcript for you. The fact that he was talking trash at all is the headline, given the history between them.
That history is short and brutal. Joshua knocked Paul out this past December, and the fight left Paul with a broken jaw, according to MMA Fighting. Paul hasn’t fought since, so we’re coming up on about 10 months of inactivity for a guy who used to treat his schedule like a content calendar.
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Before all this, Paul built his record on a very specific type of opponent. He was 6-0 with wins over former MMA champions Anderson Silva, Tyron Woodley and Ben Askren, plus ex-NBA guard Nate Robinson and influencer AnEsonGib. Then Tommy Fury beat him by split decision more than three years ago, handing Paul his first loss. Joshua handed him a much louder one.
Where everyone goes from here
Joshua has real business on the calendar. He’s booked against Tyson Fury on Dec. 11 in Cardiff, Wales, on Netflix, a fight that has turned into its own promotional turf war. Eddie Hearn, whose Matchroom Boxing manages Joshua, keeps insisting Dana White has nothing to do with the event, even as Turki Alalshikh says White is involved and White claims a role in production. Hearn told iFL TV that Sela confirmed in writing that White and the UFC aren’t producing the show, and he made it clear he considers the location fight settled. “I’ve won our battle,” Hearn said, pointing to keeping the fight in the U.K. instead of Madison Square Garden.
Paul, meanwhile, has been fighting mostly on X. Over the weekend he went after Tommy Fury, who now sits at 11-0, after a viral clip of Fury allegedly being removed from a Halloween event. Fury floated a rematch and Paul shut it down. “Never happening,” Paul wrote. “Ship has sailed.”
He’s also been playing matchmaker for other people. After Zuffa Boxing granted Shakur Stevenson his release, Yahoo Sports noted, Paul quickly suggested TKO extend that same courtesy on the MMA side. Jon Jones then reposted a Paul post asking the UFC to release Jones so he can fight Francis Ngannou. “They already said they are never working with Francis,” Paul wrote. “So let Jon fly and we can give the fans what they want.”
Quick take
I’ll give Paul this much: walking up to the man who broke your jaw and running your mouth anyway is great villain behavior, and I’m a sucker for great villains. But villains need fights. Right now Paul is turning down Tommy Fury, lobbying for Jon Jones vs. Francis Ngannou and taunting Joshua, which makes him the busiest unbooked fighter in combat sports. Joshua’s next opponent is Tyson Fury, not Paul, and that one happens Dec. 11 in Cardiff whether Paul is talking or not.
