Anthony Joshua revealed today that Oleksandr Usyk’s team will train him for his fight against Jake Paul on December 19, 2025, on Netflix at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida.
(Credit: Ester Lin/Most Valuable Promotions)
Why Team Usyk?
Typically, AJ (28-4, 25 KOs) is coached by Ben Davison, but he’s going all out for this one, choosing to go with Team Usyk for the eight-round bout against Jake. This move has to be viewed as a sign of concern because this is a fight Joshua cannot afford to lose or look bad in.
Joshua’s Chin Problem
Usyk’s team won’t be able to do anything to fix Joshua’s punch resistance. That’s a problem that is beyond a coaching fix. If he gets hit clean by Jake, it won’t matter how many tricks Usyk’s team taught him. He’ll go down, and he might not get up.
The 6’1″ Paul (12-1, 7 KOs) looked considerably smaller than the 6’6′ Joshua during their face-off today at their kick-off press conference. However, being shorter will give Jake an advantage, as he’s a height that Joshua isn’t accustomed to fighting.
The punching coming up could be difficult for him to judge. With Paul’s power, he’s got more than enough to knock out AJ in front of the millions that will be watching the contest on Netflix.
Jake’s KO Blueprint
“I think a fourth or fifth round knockout by me,” said Jake Paul for his prediction against Anthony Joshua.”Anthony. Yeah, 1000%,” said Paul on who has more pressure on them in his clash against AJ.
The five-round prediction is an excellent one for Jake. By that point, he either KOs Joshua or he gets stopped himself. Joshua was all over the place in his last fight against Daniel Dubois, getting knocked down in rounds 1, 3, 4, and 5 on September 21, 2024. If Dubois was a better finisher, he would have gotten AJ out in the first round because he gone.
“I’m going in there, I can fight free. If he starts getting touched up and losing rounds, I think the cookie will crumble,” said Paul about how Joshua will mentally come unglued when things start going badly for him on December 19th.
Historically, when things start to fall apart for Joshua in his fights, they tend to stay that way. The only instance where he turned things around was his fight against 40-year-old Wladimir Klitschko on April 29, 2017.
In that fight, Wladimir dropped Joshua in the sixth round, and had him hurt and gassed out from seven through ten. Instead of finishing him off, Wladimir inexplicably chose to box him from the outside. In the 11th, Joshua got his second wind and knocked out Klitschko. In hindsight, AJ should have been KO’d if Wladimir had fought with any sense. If Jake Paul gets Joshua in a similar situation on December 19th, he won’t let him off the hook.
Ben Davison Benched
“I won’t be trained by Ben Davidson. I was invited to train with Team Usyk. We’ve been doing some good training out in Spain, and I think he’s [Oleksander Usyk] one of the best in the world,” said Joshua about training with Oleksandr Usyk’s team for this fight.
Why This Could Backfire
Changing trainers for this fight might not be the smartest move for Joshua, since he needs to fight with a system he’s accustomed to. If he’s painting by the number system, one he’s not comfortable with, Jake can take advantage of it.
“I’m going to bring him to another school of boxing that I don’t think he’s been exposed to yet. So there are a few tricks I have up my sleeve to show Jake on December 19th,” said Joshua.
AJ’s best strategy should be to come out swinging, throwing power shots to try and get Jake out as quickly as possible. The longer he leaves Paul out there, the better chance he gets knocked out by the younger fighter.