Okay, so boxing just changed again, I think. They confirmed Anthony Joshua, a former champion, is fighting Jake Paul, that YouTube guy. It’s happening on December 19th. Calling it “Judgment Day” and everything, which seems a bit dramatic if you’re asking me. Netflix is gonna show it live, which is weird for them. A lot of money will be made, I’m sure of that. But it just feels a bit wrong for the sport, you know?
The announcement came from Paul’s own people, which figures. Lots of folks in boxing are just shaking their heads. The big worry is Jake Paul isn’t really a proper fighter, not like Joshua is. He could get seriously hurt. Even though it’ll get huge ratings and all that, it leaves boxing feeling a little more broken than before.
Joshua is 36, and he kinda admitted this whole thing is strange. He said he’s here to do massive numbers and break records. He also said other fighters will start doing this too, mark his words. He said he’s gonna “break the internet over Jake Paul’s face,” which is a wild thing to say.
Then Paul, who’s always so loud, said this isn’t an AI simulation. He thinks beating Joshua means no one can deny him a title shot anymore. He finished with “to all my haters, this is what you wanted.” It’s like he’s trying to prove a point or something.
This is a big change for Joshua, who’s been quiet since he lost to Dubois. Everyone was talking about him maybe fighting Tyson Fury next year. His promoter, Eddie Hearn, thought he’d take an easier fight first. But I guess the money from Paul was just too good to say no to. Hearn thinks it’s a gentle hit before the real business starts.
Even if Joshua is past his best, he’s still a real fighter. He’s been at the top for ten years. He can really punch. If he wants to show the difference between a real boxer and a YouTuber, he could definitely hurt Paul.
But the fight is only eight rounds, which makes me suspicious. Maybe it’s a controlled arrangement so Joshua doesn’t have to actually demolish the guy who’s making him rich. A sports analyst on TV said that too, that the eight-round limit is unusual and confirms a lot of people’s gut feelings.
Looking at Paul’s record, he’s had 13 fights but only one against a real, current boxer. That was Tommy Fury, who beat him. That fight showed Paul’s limits, I think. Since then, he’s done more gimmicky stuff. He was supposed to have an exhibition with Gervonta Davis, but that got canceled because of Davis’s lawsuit. Paul said he condemned what Davis allegedly did, so he needed a new opponent.
This whole situation makes me wonder where boxing is going. It’ll be entertaining and make a ton of cash, for sure. But it’s blurring the line between a real sport and just a spectacle. A journalist wrote that he hopes Paul doesn’t need an ambulance and that we can all feel less grubby after the circus is over. I kinda get that feeling.
It’s gonna get a huge audience on Netflix. How it affects what people think about boxing, well, I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
