During his five-year boxing journey, Paul has improved tremendously. He has good lateral movement, he knows the way to work off the jab, and he has a robust right hand. The query is, has Paul improved enough to drag off the upset of the century?
Thirty-five years ago (42-1), underdog James “Buster” Douglas posted the upset of the century when he stopped Mike Tyson within the tenth round. Going into the Joshua fight, Paul is a (+700) underdog.
Recently, the upset of the century almost occurred in March 2024. In his pro boxing debut, former UFC world heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou challenged the then WBC world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.
With 44 seconds remaining within the third round, Ngannou scored a knockdown when he landed a tough left hook. Nevertheless, Fury was in a position to stand up, utilize his skill set, and box his approach to a split decision victory.
Resulting from his impressive performance against Fury, Francis Ngannou was awarded one other big fight six months later against Anthony Joshua. Unfortunately for Ngannou, things didn’t go in line with plan, as Joshua knocked him out within the second round.
Jake Paul could view Ngannou’s fight against Fury as inspiration. Ngannou was an inexperienced boxer who took Fury to the limit. Jake Paul has minimal experience, however the one advantage he holds is within the athleticism category.
Anthony Joshua is a unprecedented boxer, but he has 4 losses, which suggests there may be a blueprint out on him. Two of Joshua’s 4 profession losses got here by the hands of Oleksandr Usyk.
Just like Usyk, Jake Paul will try and use lateral movement and his hand speed. Unfortunately for Paul, he doesn’t possess Usyk’s other attributes, corresponding to the IQ, timing, punch variety, footwork, and the power to create angles.
The one probability Jake Paul has of manufacturing the upset of the century is to fight the right fight. Paul is sensible, disciplined, and really elusive.
His offense should be crisp, and his defense should be tight. On the night of December 19 Jake Paul (12-1, 7 KOs) may have to be the epitome of the boxing phrase ‘hit but don’t get hit.’
Jake Paul believes he has a probability to win because Anthony Joshua, 36, can have lost some punch resistance. Throughout the course of his June 2019 victory, Andy Ruiz dropped Joshua 4 times.
Daniel Dubois also scored 4 knockdowns when he defeated Joshua in September 2024. It’s a indisputable fact that Joshua may be hurt, however the query is, does Jake Paul have enough punching power to harm Anthony Joshua?
In Jake Paul’s case, punching power is irrelevant. His fundamental objective is to be slicker than baby oil while boxing from the surface. Paul may have to make use of his hand speed and constant movement to outpoint Joshua over eight rounds.
This Friday night, Jake Paul will take the most important risk of his pro boxing profession when he steps contained in the ring to face Anthony Joshua. On the planet of sports, we have now witnessed instances where, for one night, every part went right for a selected team or individual.
On December 19, Jake Paul will need an evening where every part goes right. If Paul may be defensively responsible, work from the surface, and outpoint Joshua, then it is going to, definitely, be the most important upset of the century.