Joshua, Paul fight scripted – Wilder

Former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder believes Anthony Joshua’s upcoming fight with Jake Paul is scripted, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.

He made this claim according to FightHub TV ahead of the bout scheduled for December 19 at the Kaseya Centre in Miami.

The upcoming fight pits Joshua, a two-time unified heavyweight champion, against YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul in a heavyweight professional boxing match.

Paul beat former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson in 2024 after the latter came out of retirement, and Wilder believes fighting an active boxer like Joshua will be a different challenge for Paul.

“In my opinion, I think it’s (the fight between Jake Paul and Anthony Joshua) scripted a little bit because of the weight difference, and Joshua is active. This is going to be the first time that we see (Jake) Paul fighting an active fighter,” Wilder said.

“We’ve seen him with Mike Tyson, that was all fun, that was cute…but now you’re dealing with a real professional, so we’ll see how it ends up.”

Joshua and Paul are expected to walk away with at least $40 million and will use 10-ounce gloves for the eight-round fight. Per the rules for the bout, Joshua should not weigh above 245 pounds.

The professionally-sanctioned heavyweight bout has drawn widespread concern from boxing figures, with Muhammad Ali’s grandson, Nico Ali and former world champion Amir Khan both warning that Paul is putting his life at risk.

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