Eighteen fighters were present for Wednesday evening’s final press conference at the Kaseya Center in Miami ahead of Friday’s Netflix blockbuster known as “Judgment Day,” headlined by an eight-round heavyweight bout featuring Jake Paul and Anthony Joshua.
After Maryland’s Gervonta Davis (30-0-1, 28 KOs) withdrew from the originally scheduled Nov. 14 bout with Paul (12-1, 7 KOs), England’s Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs) accepted the fight despite a weight discrepancy of at least 53 pounds between heavyweight and cruiserweight.
Joshua, who previously held the heavyweight title, said he isn’t nervous to face the Ohio native despite the narrative around the fight being a potential mismatch.
“With this one (fight), in terms of putting boxing on my back, it just seems like I’m being called to save the pugilists, the purest of boxing,” Joshua told reporters. “And so, people don’t like the fact that I’m fighting Jake. Whether that concerns me or not as another question, but if we look at the people that don’t want me to be here (fighting), they want me to put an end to Jake Paul’s show, I understand, and that’s why I have to carry boxing in my back with this fight.”
Paul disagreed, despite having mutual respect for the once-prominent champion.
Joshua, 36, last fought in September 2024 and enters the fight having won three of his past four bouts.
“I think no one’s done more for the sport of boxing in the past decade than myself,” said Paul, 28, a former boxing influencer. “So I think if people really cared about boxing, they’d want me to win. But I see the angle where they’re coming from is. He’s the true, traditional boxer who has been doing it his whole life, etc. But I think I’m more important for the sport of boxing.”
Paul did not elaborate on why, but he said there is more upside to him beating a name boxer such as Joshua. Paul went on to say that if Joshua were still the champion, there is a little doubt in his mind that he would have won the belt in a hypothetical scenario if the fight had taken place a year ago.
Paul then sent a message to Joshua in an attempt to intimidate him.
“And you claim you’re better than Tyson (Fury), all these people,” Paul said. “So we’ll see.”
Joshua, with a smile, had a short rebuttal.
“I’m gonna claim that I’m better than you,” Joshua said. “That’s where my focus is, and I’m gonna prove it on Friday.”
The event will begin about 4:45 p.m. Eastern Time, followed by the Netflix portion at 8, and Paul vs. Joshua tentatively is scheduled to begin just after 10:30.
Below is the scheduled main-card bout order, which is subject to change.
–Jake Paul vs. Anthony Joshua, 8×3 (heavyweight)
–Alycia Baumgardner vs. Leila Beaudoin, 12×3 (super featherweight) for Baumgardner’s IBF, WBA, and WBO titles
–Anderson Silva vs. Tyron Woodley, 6×3 (cruiserweight)
–Jahmal Harvey vs. Kevin Cervantes, 6×3 (super featherweight)
–Field Level Media
