Is the Jake Paul vs Anthony Joshua Fight Scripted? All Questions About the Fight Answered

Is Jake Paul vs Anthony Joshua Scripted?

When Jake Paul vs Anthony Joshua was first announced, the question on everyone's mind was whether the fight was scripted. After all, there's no real reason to believe that Jake Paul could beat Anthony Joshua in a real Boxing fight, but why would Paul also go into the fight with no possible chance of winning?

With that in mind, the first assumptions made were that it must be scripted in favor of Paul and that even if he lost, it would be made to seem that he put up a fight.

Joshua's promoter, Eddie Hearn, has vehemently denied any chance of this fight being scripted in an interview with the BBC, quoted as saying, "Firstly, we'd be investigated by the FBI if it was. It would be illegal. This is a professional contest and a sanctioned bout where people are betting on it." He also went on to say, "And do you think I would ever allow AJ to have a script with Jake? A script where we might lose or even hold him up and look bad? No way"

The odds suggest that Jake Paul is a sizeable underdog, with his current odds of +800 implying he has an 11.1% chance of winning this fight. With these odds in mind, the fears of this fight being scripted are slightly alleviated as sportsbooks clearly expect Joshua to get the win.

If you are looking for the best place to bet on Anthony Joshua or Jake Paul, click here to check out our where to bet article.

Jake Paul vs Anthony Joshua - A Huge Mismatch

In reality, these two fighters are streets apart. Firstly, one is a former Heavyweight Champion. Joshua has beaten some of the biggest names in Boxing, with a legendary victory over Wladimir Klitschko really propelling him into superstardom.

Joshua also avenged a surprise loss to Andy Ruiz Jr to win back the titles he lost to him in their first bout, with wins over Alexander Povetkin, Joseph Parker, and Otto Wallin all considered strong victories. He's also fought in one of these crossover bouts before, impressively dispatching Francis Ngannou, who had given Tyson Fury a hard time a few months earlier.

The biggest criticism of Joshua is the fact that he's not been able to beat fighters at the very top of their game, losing twice to Oleksandr Usyk and more recently to Daniel Dubois. With that said, these are two boxers widely considered among the best in the world, with Usyk particularly heralded as the best, so it's taken great fighters to beat him.

Jake Paul, on the other hand, has cherry-picked opponents, with Tyson Fury's younger brother, Tommy, beating Paul in one of the only fights considered a real challenge. Even in his most high-profile fight against Mike Tyson, there was talk of Tyson holding back, despite being nearly 60 years of age.

In reality, Joshua should be far too good for the naturally smaller Paul, as their skill level is worlds apart, as is their experience.

Jake Paul Given Just an 11% Chance of Causing an Upset

The reason many are confident this will be a real fight and not scripted is the current odds. Jake Paul is rightly a huge underdog here at +800, but even then, he looks short enough in the market. With everything we know, you would almost expect his odds to be even bigger.

For context, Joshua was -2400 to beat Andy Ruiz Jr in their first fight, so to only be -835 in a fight against a YouTuber suggests there is a small element of concern from sportsbooks that there could be some theatrics at play here.

Further Jake Paul vs Anthony Joshua Questions Answered

There are many questions asked about this fight, so we have collected the most frequently asked questions and have answered them below:

Are Anthony Joshua and Jake Paul Going to Fight?

At this point, there are no doubts about this fight not going ahead. It is being shown live on Netflix, and it seems all too late for this event to be scrapped.

What Time is Anthony Joshua vs Jake Paul?

Ringwalks for the Anthony Joshua vs Jake Paul fight are expected to be at 10:30 pm ET/ 7:30 pm PT.

Is the Joshua-Paul Fight Free on Netflix?

For existing Netflix subsribers the fight is available at no extra cost. If you don't have a Netflix account, there is no way to watch the fight for free; you will need to sign up for an account.

Jake Paul vs Anthony Joshua Rules

The fight will be 8 three-minute rounds, and the fighters will wear 10-oz gloves.

Anthony Joshua is not allowed to weigh in heavier than 245lbs (17.5 st) due to Paul coming up from Cruiserweight. This is unusual for a Heavyweight fight that doesn't typically have these restrictions.

A new rule that was added late was the size of the ring. The ring will be 22 x 22 rather than the standard 20 x 20. The general consensus is that this helps Paul escape Joshua a little bit easier, but it's not too big of a deal.