Anthony Joshua has not fought in a professional boxing match in nearly 15 months.
That changes when Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs) faces Jake Paul (12-1, 7 KOs) in an eight-round heavyweight bout Friday, Dec. 19 at Miami’s Kaseya Center, with the fight streaming on Netflix.
The fight stands as one of the most unconventional matchups in recent memory, with Paul, a 28-year-old YouTuber-turned-boxer, looking to upset one of the era’s top heavyweight champions.
Joshua, 36, has not competed since a fifth-round knockout loss to Daniel Dubois in September 2024 and has since undergone elbow surgery.
Joshua had initially planned to fight on the David Benavidez vs. Anthony Yarde card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Nov. 27, but the chance to face Paul presented itself.
GettyMIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA – DECEMBER 18: Jake Paul faces off against Anthony Joshua during the weigh-in at The Fillmore Miami Beach on December 18, 2025 in Miami Beach, Florida. (Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images for Netflix)
Anthony Joshua Talks Bouncing Back From Dubois Defeat
The former two-time heavyweight champion shared on his YouTube channel just days before the Paul fight that he had long recognized that, given the intensity of his training and his packed schedule, he would need a break from the sport, with the loss to Dubois serving as the catalyst.
“When you lose, you tend to take a deeper look at yourself and take time to figure out what went wrong,” Joshua said.
“I had to look at the reasons why I lost. And I said to myself: ‘I think I need a bit of time.’ I predicted this moment in 2018. Not the loss, but the work I was taking on was a lot. I was moving at 100 miles-per-hour. Inside training, preparing for fights, working outside of boxing.
“For any man or any woman, at some stage they probably need a bit of a reset. So it come to that stage really in 2025 where I thought: ‘You know what, I probably need a year out the game.'”
Anthony Joshua Switched Trainers
One of the most significant changes for Joshua has been joining Oleksandr Usyk’s team and training at the Ukrainian champion’s base in Spain in the lead-up to the Paul fight.
He has been working with Usyk’s strength and conditioning coach, Jakub Chycki, as well as boxing coach Iegor Golub, who played a key role in guiding Usyk to become the undisputed heavyweight champion.
“I need to be that guy that ain’t accessible for a bit,” Joshua said. “After 12 months, interestingly I found myself back in training in Valencia, with the team that trained [Vasiliy] Lomachenko and the team that trains Oleksandr Usyk.
“If you want to win, surround yourself with winners, and they’re winners.”
Anthony Joshua Says He Changed ‘A Lot’ in His Life
Joshua also shared at a pre-fight news conference in late November that he also took time to “change a lot of things in my life.”
“After my last fight, it’s been a whirlwind this boxing. So I’ve been trying to create businesses on the side. So after so many years, where I’m a CEO of businesses and I’m boxing, I decided to shut down a lot of businesses, so I can put all my energy into sports.
“So, I took 12 months out the game. I realigned my vision board, consolidated a lot of things, trimmed down my team. I need 12 months to do that. We was moving 100 miles an hour with my blinkers on. I turned my blinkers off.”
Anthony Joshua Explains 12-Month Break, Elbow Surgery Before Jake Paul Fight