.png)
21 hours ago
5
Anthony Joshua and Jake Paul are finalizing a deal to meet in a heavyweight fight in Miami this December, sources told the Guardian, with Netflix preparing to announce the bout on Monday. A source with knowledge of the negotiations said the deal is done and that the fight will take place on either 19 or 26 December.
Paul had originally been scheduled to fight Gervonta Davis on 14 November at the Kaseya Center, but the event was cancelled after Davis was removed from the card amid domestic violence allegations. Davis’s former partner, Courtney Rossel, filed a civil lawsuit in Miami-Dade County accusing the lightweight champion of battery, aggravated battery, false imprisonment, kidnapping and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Miami Gardens police confirmed they are investigating the alleged incident, which Rossel says occurred at the strip club where she works. She was granted a restraining order shortly afterwards.
Most Valuable Promotions, Paul’s company, and Netflix scrapped the show soon after the lawsuit became public. “Our team has worked closely with all parties to navigate this situation responsibly,” Nakisa Bidarian, MVP’s chief executive, said at the time. “While we will not be moving forward with this event, our plan still remains for Jake Paul to headline an event on Netflix in 2025.”
Paul responded by publicly lambasting Davis on X, calling him “an actual walking human piece of garbage” and apologizing to undercard fighters and staff affected by the cancellation.
After Davis’s withdrawal, Paul’s team explored other opponents, including Ryan Garcia and undisputed super middleweight champion Terence Crawford. Talks then accelerated with Joshua, the former two-time unified heavyweight champion, who has not fought since being stopped by Daniel Dubois in September 2024.
Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, had said the 36-year-old hoped to return before the end of the year, with early 2026 also possible. A December fight with Paul would mark Joshua’s first appearance in more than 15 months and gives Netflix, whose boxing telecasts have included Paul’s fight with Mike Tyson and Crawford’s showdown with Canelo Álvarez, a marquee replacement for the scrapped Davis bout.
A source familiar with the deal said Netflix expects to lock in the exact date before Monday’s announcement. The fight is expected to take place in Miami and stream globally on the platform.
Netflix’s first boxing show – Paul’s bout with Tyson – became the most-streamed sporting event in history, peaking at 65m live concurrent streams and drawing an estimated 108m average live viewers worldwide, the company said in a press release. The broadcast accounted for 56% of all US television viewing during the fight’s main event hour and was the platform’s No 1 title that week across 78 countries.
