Anthony Joshua relocates to Miami for Jake Paul fight

Anthony Joshua relocates Miami for Jake Paul fight

Anthony Joshua is very much locked in for his fight with Jake Paul, having travelled to Miami in advance to adjust to the time zone.

The former two-time unified heavyweight champion has not fought since his brutal knockout defeat to Daniel Dubois back in September 2024 in front of over 95,000 fans at Wembley Stadium.

Joshua has been sidelined for the majority of 2025 due to injury, but after undergoing elbow surgery, the Brit is now back in full training and is gearing up for a return to the ring.

Many were left stunned after it was confirmed that Joshua and Paul would be going head-to-head.

The two stars are scheduled to clash on December 19 in Miami, Florida. The dust-up will be contested over eight three-minute rounds, with both men set to wear 10oz gloves.

Joshua is expected to make easy work of the YouTuber-turned-boxer, but he is taking nothing for granted. 'AJ' is preparing for the contest as if he was set to fight for a world title. Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn has revealed his star client is already in Miami and is looking rather sharp ahead of the money-spinning encounter.

"The difference is in this fight is he has to make a specific weight which is a lot lighter than he would be going into this fight. But he's on track and is in Miami with not long to go until the fight. I can't believe what's about to happen to be honest. Yeah he's ready to go and do a job on him, and I just can't believe we've signed the contract to fight him."
Joshua has been told ahead of the bout that he must not weigh more than 245lb for his fight with Paul. Following on from Hearn's comments, it does not seem that the British star will face a battle with the scales after it had emerged that he will need to cut 20lb to make the agreed limit.

Jake Paul told to immediately sack employee ahead of Anthony Joshua fightHearn admitted he told a rather white lie during negotiations for the contest.

In a recent interview with BBC Five Live, the boxing promoter informed MVP chief Nakisa Bidarian that the British heavyweight was walking around at 290lb and faced a potential tough weight cut.

“I spoke to [Joshua], and he was sitting at 265 pounds or something like that. I think I told Nakisa [Bidarian] that he was 290 pounds or something like that," he said. "I said I’m not interested in balloon gloves and two-minute rounds, but he said it was a real fight. I asked if it was 10 rounds or eight rounds, they said fine to eight.
“They said, ‘the only thing is that Jake will weigh about 220 pounds, and we want AJ to come down in weight.’ He’s a heavyweight and hasn’t cut weight before. They said, ‘look, we’re not being funny and it’s not that we need an advantage, but we need you to have some disadvantage.'”

Anthony Joshua and Jake Paul will clash in Miami on December 19, just six days before Christmas.

The pair will likely walk to the ring at around 11pm local time which would be 4am in the UK.