Boxing

Ryan Garcia Reveals Why Jake Paul Picked Anthony Joshua As Opponent

Ryan Garcia got clear about why he thinks Jake Paul decided to fight Anthony Joshua.
Grant Young|
Ryan Garcia
Ryan Garcia | IMAGO / Hoganphotos

On November 17, news became official that Jake Paul would be fighting Anthony Joshua in a professional heavyweight bout in Miami, Florida, on December 19.

The reason this fight came together on such short notice is that Netflix was keen to have a fight card with Paul on it before the end of 2025, given that he was scheduled to face Gervonta "Tank" Davis on Netflix on November 14 before that bout was cancelled.

In the wake of this cancellation, Paul's team reportedly reached out to names like Ryan Garcia, Terence Crawford, and Francis Ngannou to step in on short notice.

The first person to publicly decline was Garcia. Well, it was actually his Golden Boy promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, who declined on Garcia's behalf by saying, "Let me just tell you why this fight is not going to happen. Ryan Garcia fights for DAZN. And Jake Paul fights on Netflix. I mean, that's pretty much the bottom line."

Oscar De La Hoya
IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire

"Golden Boy has a contract with DAZN. Ryan Garcia has a contract with Golden Boy. And that's just the way it is. I mean, this is business... You have a contract with DAZN. You have a contract with Golden Boy. It just doesn't happen that way," he added.

The irony of this is that Joshua is also under contract with DAZN, but his Matchroom promoter, Eddie Hearn, managed a way around that.

Ryan Garcia Speaks on Jake Paul Fighting Anthony Joshua

Garcia was on a November 17 episode of Ring Magazine's Inside the Ring show and explained why he thinks Paul picked Joshua as an opponent.

"This fight [against Joshua] is probably the worst fight that Jake Paul could have took. Out of all the fights he probably had a choice, you know?" Garcia said, per an X post from DAZN. "This is a big dude, heavyweight. Like, how do you go from 135 [pounds] to 225. It's going to be difficult."

When Max Kellerman asked Garcia why he thinks Paul took this fight against Joshua, he said, "He's just addicted to doing huge fights. At the end of the day, he has so many options. He's always looking for the guy that can make the most noise. All his picks that he has fought in the pros, has been guys that have some names.

"He's probably thinking, 'Anthony Joshua, maybe his chin is suspect. Maybe he's not even thinking about me, so I'm going to come in and somehow hit him with my right hand.' Because he believes that his right hand is as strong as [Deontay] Wilder," Garcia added.

"I think [Paul has] seen [Daniel] DuBois drop him with the right hand, and say, 'Oh. I can do that. That's my shot.'"

Whatever Paul's reasoning for picking Joshua is, he has a tough task ahead of him.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young is a Staff Writer for On SI’s Boxing, New York Mets, Indiana Fever, and Women’s Fastbreak sites. Before joining SI in 2024, he wrote for various boxing and sports verticals such as FanBuzz and NY Fights. Young has a bachelor’s degree in marketing and a master’s degree in creative writing with an emphasis on sports nonfiction from the University of San Francisco, where he played five seasons of Division 1 baseball. He fought Muay Thai professionally in Thailand in 2023, loves a good essay, and is driven crazy trying to handle a pitpull puppy named Aura. Young lives in San Diego and was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area.