Anthony Joshua will be a furious man with a lot to prove when he fights Jake Paul.
That’s according to UFC commentator and combat sports enthusiast Joe Rogan, who has described Joshua as a fighter with ‘one-punch, nuclear power’ in a warning to Paul of the dangers he faces on December 19.
Paul announced in November that he would be fighting Joshua live on Netflix in Miami next month after his originally scheduled bout with Gervonta Davis collapsed.
Davis faced fresh allegations in a civil lawsuit, so Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions pulled the fight against the WBA 135lbs champion and decided the next best thing was to fight former two-time unified heavyweight champion Joshua.
Paul vs Joshua has been met with long debates over concerns regarding the former’s safety when the pair come to blows.
Many fans and prominent names in the sport believe the American could have his lights turned out in minutes, as the bout is professionally sanctioned.
Members of the boxing fraternity have also noted that Joshua has a lucrative meeting with Tyson Fury in his eye line, and Rogan couldn’t agree more.
Joe Rogan: Anthony Joshua is one of the scariest knockout artists at heavyweight
“It’s one of the craziest propositions of all time,” Rogan explained, speaking on the fight being billed as ‘Jake vs Joshua’ via his podcast.
“You take a guy who just had a boxing match that looks like a sparring match with a 58-year-old Mike Tyson.
“And then you’re going to fight one of the absolute scariest knockout artists in the heavyweight division….”
Rogan then recalled Joshua’s second-round KO of Francis Ngannou as a prime example of what the British boxing star is capable of when fighting someone out of his league.
“The speed that [Joshua] hits [Ngannou] with — he’s so dangerous,” Rogan added.
“It’s like you’re dealing with a guy who’s an Olympic gold medallist.
“He’s enormous, he’s got vicious knockout power, and he’s got an immense amount of experience at world-class levels.
“Fought Oleksandr Usyk twice, fought Andy Ruiz twice… The timing in that right hand [is] just spectacular.”
Joshua will have to cut down to weigh no more than 245lbs for his fight with Paul.
‘AJ’ previously hit the scales at 252.3 before his last fight — a fifth-round KO defeat to Daniel Dubois in September 2024.
Rogan, however, doesn’t foresee the Watford powerhouse having any issues on that front.
Joshua will be angry that Paul wants to fight him, says Rogan
Here’s how Paul compares to Joshua
“There’s not a chance that Anthony Joshua is not going to just lose the weight beforehand,” Rogan concluded.
“He’s not gonna come in drained. What he’s gonna do is just do extra cardio, and that’s just gonna make him more dangerous.
“He’s gonna be terrifying, and he’s gonna have a lot to prove. He’s gonna be very angry that Jake Paul wants to fight him.
“Very upset that this YouTuber, who’s fought Tommy Fury, who’s a legit boxer, and a couple of other guys who were legit boxers.
“That’s it — [Joshua] survived [Usyk] twice. He survived, in my opinion, the most skilful heavyweight of all time, twice.
“And you’re gonna go boxing? And the toughest guy you fought before was a 40-year-old Anderson Silva?
“This is a giant Olympic gold medallist heavyweight. I mean, Anthony Joshua is f***ing terrifying.
“He’s got that one punch nuclear power, one punch, and he’s fast.”
Paul also has wins over ex-UFC champions in his boxing career.
He defeated former UFC welterweight titleholder Tyron Woodley twice in 2021, before claiming a unanimous decision win over one of the greatest ever mixed martial artists in Anderson Silva.
Woodley and Silva are booked to face one another on the undercard of ‘Jake vs Joshua.’
