Jake Paul Given Secret Weapon to Beat Anthony Joshua by Former Rival

One of Anthony Joshua’s former opponents has ‘told’ Jake Paul exactly what he needs to do to beat the Englishman.

Joshua, 36, and Paul, 28, will go toe-to-toe in a professional heavyweight bout in Miami, Florida, on December 19. The contest will be broadcast live on Netflix.

The older of the pair has previously been crowned as the unified heavyweight champion of the world on two separate occasions and boasts a professional record of 28-4 with 25 knockouts, including wins against Wladimir Klitschko and Joseph Parker.

Meanwhile, Paul’s record is 12-1 with ‘The Problem Child’ sporting wins over former UFC fighters Nate Diaz, Anderson Silva, Tyron Woodley, and Ben Askren.

The 28-year-old has also fought boxers Tommy Fury, to whom he lost, as well as Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Mike Tyson.

Jake Paul previously defeated Mike Tyson (Credit:Getty)

And officially, Paul has Tyson’s name on his record, but his win must be caveated by the fact that ‘Iron Mike’ was 58 years old – 31 years older than Paul, who was then 27.

Joshua will provide a much tougher test as he is still an active fighter with ambitions of becoming a three-time world champion despite seemingly being in the twilight of his career.

Last time out, in September 2024, Joshua suffered a devastating knockout defeat against Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium and has since undergone elbow surgery.

Despite having lost four times, all of these have been in world title fights. Just Oleksandr Usyk (x2), Dubois, and Andy Ruiz Jr. can say they beat Joshua as a professional, with the latter pulling off a shock victory over AJ in New York back in June 2019.

At the time, Ruiz came in as a late replacement for Jarrell Miller, who failed a drug test. The now 36-year-old won by TKO in round seven in front of a stunned Madison Square Garden. The result was one of the most surprising in the history of the sport.

Ruiz became the unified world heavyweight champion before losing on points in the rematch, which took place in Saudi Arabia in December 2019.

Still, he successfully beat ‘AJ’ and has now offered some words of advice to Paul.

Andy Ruiz beat Anthony Joshua in June 2019 (Credit:Getty)

Speaking to SPORTbible on behalf of Covers, when asked if he used any subtle tactics to beat Joshua, Ruiz said: “Just believing in yourself, man. Just believing in myself and that I was on a diet, trying to win.

“Even when he knocked me down, I still got up, and I was like, 'You know what? I'm not f*****g giving up. I'm going to keep going, keep trying.' It's funny, because I already felt like I won, because for my first purse there, I was getting like $5 million just to get the opportunity with him. So, I already felt like I won, but I had a friend. His name is Jorge Capetillo from Las Vegas, and he brought me close to God and going to church.

“And he was telling me, 'Andy, don't think about the money, the money's gonna come. Think about winning. That's the most important thing. Winning.'

“And I was like, 'Alright.' So, that kind of helped me get a little bit more motivated and kind of blocked out everything that I was thinking about and all the negativity. So, I think having a strong mind and a purpose when you fight. That's what's gonna help you.”