Jake Paul and Anthony Joshua’s Pad Work Compared

Ahead of their unlikely meeting this weekend, Anthony Joshua and Jake Paul have been showing fans what they can expect come fight night.

The two headed into the ring for the first time for their open workouts, and their vastly different showings suggested a potential outcome, and, as expected, it does not look good for the American. The two will meet in the Kaseya Center in Miami with the fight scheduled to take place at 3:30am UK time.

What the two fighters are fighting for is very different. This is a no-lose situation for Paul. If he loses by early and vicious knockout, which many are expecting, and dare to say perhaps hoping, then at least he can say it was at the hands of a well-known former heavyweight champion, and a former unified WBA, WBO, and IBF champion at that.

If he wins clean, however, aside from the obvious controversy that will follow about whether a Paul win was always the plan, then the reality of him becoming a world champion from starting off as a social media star might actually happen.

For Joshua, it couldn’t be a more dangerous choice in regard to his already dented reputation following his demolishing at the hands of Daniel Dubois last September, and fans weren’t expecting him to take on a YouTuber in his comeback after a 14-month layoff.

If he tastes his fifth professional defeat at all, whether it’s clean or not, it will undoubtedly be the last we see of Anthony Joshua in the title picture, if at all. Even if he wins, and even if he wins by brutal knockout in the first round, the majority of the boxing public will just say he beat a YouTuber, whose record has been padded with MMA fighters past their prime, with a loss to the only boxer he’s faced in Tommy Fury.

However, what might bring joy to those that will be tuning in on Netflix is that if their showings in the public workouts are anything to go by, then a short night for Paul is exactly what Joshua is planning.

Difference Between Jake Paul & Anthony Joshua in Training

Firstly, in Paul’s workout, what will stand out is that perhaps even he knows he’s more than likely going to be picking himself up off the canvas, as he began his workout by showboating and mimicking shots that a basketball player would do, instead of practicing the shots he will need to throw at Joshua on Friday.

When he eventually turned to the pads, he began with, compared to AJ, slow straights that a fighter of the Briton’s calibre should easily be able to read and counter. At one stage, Paul did show some speed in his combinations, but even his fastest load of punches were nowhere near as quick as those of his opponent, so it looks likely that even Paul’s greatest strength in this fight, his quickness, won’t be in his favour.

Joshua, on the other hand, was laser-focused, no bravado to be seen. Instead, shadow-boxing to begin, before heading onto the pads himself and showing his trademark speed and power that he showed in his early career that brought him knockout victories against the likes of Dillian Whyte, Eric Molina, Dominic Breazeale, and when he had to bring it out in his biggest test to that point, Wladimir Klitschko in April 2017.

They are tools that have been missing from Joshua’s arsenal since his upset loss to Andy Ruiz Jr in June 2019, which turned him into a more conservative fighter who opted not to take the risk of being knocked out, but he’s looking to bring it out this time around, to Paul’s detriment.

As far-fetched as a fight between Anthony Joshua and Jake Paul seemed not so long ago, it’s happening, and if there are no clauses that protect the latter, it will provide a springboard for one of them. Either Jake Paul will finally make people believe he is a real professional boxer, or Joshua will be loved once more for dismantling someone who people say has been killing the sport.

Not only that, but he will also be back in the conversation again as he looks to become a three-time heavyweight champion, having previously held the IBF, WBA, and WBO straps from March 2018 to June 2019, and all three again from December 2019 to September 2021, when he was defeated in his first meeting with Oleksandr Usyk.