Jake Paul’s fight against Anthony Joshua Friday in Miami could be a career-changing night.
The eight-round heavyweight fight is just as important to Jake Paul haters.
“You know what everyone’s tuning in for on that one,’’ UFC CEO Dana White said last month. “And I think everyone’s going to get what they’ve finally been waiting for.’’
There is no mistaking what White meant about the thing everyone has been waiting for – a knockout of Paul.
Of course, to say “everyone’’ is waiting for that outcome is an exaggeration. Let’s not forget Paul himself, Paul’s family and Paul’s fiancée.
OK, there are others, too. Because Paul has won over critics by elevating women’s boxing. And with his non-profit Boxing Bullies, through which he’s renovated gyms in disadvantaged areas.
But the legion of Jake Paul haters are still hating.
‘Dude, I respect his boxing skill (kinda) and even I hate him,” Lukas Bor of Prague wrote on Facebook.
Some of the grievances: Unlike other boxers, Paul took a shortcut, in part because his promotion company, Most Valuable Promotions ( MVP), can finance fights. As he told Gervonta Davis before their fight fell through, “I pay you.’’
Most boxers spend the first stages of their career struggling to pay the bills. Paul already was a multimillionaire. And he already was a loudmouth, one who predicted he’d win a world title before he was done squaring off against retired MMA fighters and washed-up boxers.
Paul baits those haters, too, while claiming his villain act is nothing but an act. Although Paul seems like a natural in the role.
Some of the Jake Paul haters are as obnoxious as Paul. You know who we’re talking about – the people who booed and jeered him and targeted him with a profane chant during two press conferences with Mike Tyson. Tyson, of course, was supposed to be the haters’ savior by knocking out the former YouTuber.
In 13 pro fights, Paul has not even been knocked down, much less knocked out.
But now the stakes and the danger are at an all-time high.
Joshua, at 36, still has immense power. Although he is coming off a brutal knockout loss to Daniel Dubois in September 2024, he won his previous three fights by stoppage. This is a chance for Joshua to restart his climb to the top of the heavyweight ranks.
This is a chance for Paul to validate his championship aspirations and silence his most ardent critics.
But the only thing more improbable than Paul beating Joshua is his chance of ending the hate.