Boxe: Anthony Joshua contre Jake Paul, un combat qui inquiète pour la santé du YouTuber
One year after his pitiful victory against Mike Tyson, a legend of the noble art then aged 58, Jake Paul takes on a much younger and more dangerous opponent in Joshua, aged 36.
Paul was originally scheduled to face American Gervonta Davis, another big name but in a much lower weight class, but changed his plans last month after new domestic violence allegations were made against Davis.
Against Joshua, he loses the advantage of size - the Briton is 1.98 m tall and weighs around 113 kg, compared to 1.85 m and 90 kg for the American - but gains attention for this clash broadcast by the streaming giant Netflix (main card from 5:00 pm local time, 11:00 pm Paris time, 10:00 pm GMT), at the end of which the two boxers should share around $184 million.
This new, bizarre fight, built solely for the buzz, raises questions about the direction boxing is taking a few days after the retirement of Terence Crawford, a hugely underrated champion who has remained far from the most lucrative events, apart from his last one, a victory against the Mexican Canelo Alvarez in September.
Above all, the boxing community is worried about Jake Paul's health against a super-powerful opponent with immensely superior technique, a former Olympic champion in 2012 and former IBF and WBO champion in the premier heavyweight category.
Eddie Hearn, the Briton's long-time promoter, felt before the fight was signed that the card presented "a catastrophic gap in level".
Former world heavyweight champion David Haye warned that Friday could be Jake Paul's "last day on Earth," despite the seriousness with which the 28-year-old former internet troublemaker has taken up boxing (12 wins in 13 fights).
The British Boxing Board of Control, the regulator of professional boxing, said that it would not have allowed this eight-round, three-minute professional fight for "security reasons".
Jake Paul embraced his "delusional optimism" and reiterated that he loved "measuring himself against the best".
Joshua hasn't fought since his knockout loss to fellow Briton Daniel Dubois in September 2024 at Wembley. He has insisted he's taking this fight seriously and plans to "destroy the head and body" of his opponent. "I'm going to stomp on him," he warned.
The Briton had knocked out Cameroonian Francis Ngannou in early 2024, a former MMA star who had converted to boxing and was armed with a physique (1.93 m and around 123 kg) far more impressive than that of Jake Paul.
Michal Bisping, former UFC star and now commentator, pointed out that "Joshua had faced the very best."
"People die in boxing rings. You don't play around with that," he warned.
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