Former world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua will fight YouTube star Jake Paul in a professional bout next month.

Britain’s Joshua, the 36-year-old former two-time unified heavyweight champion, will take on the YouTuber-turned-boxer at Kaseya Center in Miami.

The fight, which will be streamed live on Netflix, will take place on 19 December and consist of eight three-minute rounds.

Joshua, who weighed more than 250lbs during his previous three fights, must come in at under 245lbs and both fighters will wear regulation 10-ounce gloves.

The bout is a replacement fight for Paul, who was scheduled to take on Gervonta Davis in an exhibition earlier this month before it was cancelled because of a lawsuit filed against Davis by his ex-girlfriend.

“This isn’t an AI simulation. This is Judgment Day,” said 28-year-old Paul.

“When I beat Anthony Joshua, every doubt disappears, and no-one can deny me the opportunity to fight for a world title. To all my haters, this is what you wanted.”

Speculation that Joshua would fight Paul was initially denied, but he will return to the ring against the American for the first time since being knocked out by then IBF champion Daniel Dubois in September 2024.

“I took some time out and I’m coming back with a mega show. It’s a big opportunity for me,” said the 2012 Olympic gold medallist.

“Whether you like it or not, I’m here to do massive numbers, have big fights and break every record whilst keeping cool, calm and collected.

“Mark my words, you’ll see a lot more fighters take these opportunities in the future. I’m about to break the internet over Jake Paul’s face.”

Paul became famous via a YouTube account that now has close to 21m subscribers.

However in recent years he has switched his attention to boxing and has primarily fought as a cruiserweight at about 200lbs.

He weighed in at the heavyweight weight of 227.5lbs when he beat former world champion Mike Tyson in an exhibition fight in 2024 that attracted 108m viewers.

Paul then beat former world middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, 39, via a unanimous points decision, a victory that earned him the number 14 spot in the WBA cruiserweight rankings.

But Paul – who has a 12-1 win-loss record, with seven knockouts – has only boxed a total of 70 rounds since turning professional in 2020.

Joshua (28-4, 25 Kos) by contrast, has 12 years of experience as a professional and has boxed more than 160 rounds.

“It’s an incredible day,” Nakisa Bidarian, CEO of Most Valuable Promotions, told Sky Sports.

“Jake thought of this in March of this year and said, ‘I want to fight Anthony Joshua’.

“People laughed then. In July the question was asked, ‘do you see this happening?’ – and the plan was to do this in March or April of 2026. Plans changed and Jake stood up and said, ‘I want to face Joshua now’.”

Joshua’s decision to take the fight raises question marks about his future in top-level boxing, while Paul was accused of making a “mockery” of the sport in the past when he likened himself to Muhammad Ali.

“This is a huge step up for Jake Paul,” said promoter Frank Warren.

“It’s dangerous for Jake – this is someone with vast experience he’s fighting. Jake’s had some fights, but not to this level.

“But I’ll tell you who it’s more dangerous for – it’s AJ. If he gets caught – he’s done. I’m not saying that’s going to happen but if it does, he’s finished. AJ’s vulnerable, I’ve always thought he’s been vulnerable.

“People will pay to watch it; it’s a car crash and people will tune in to see a car crash.”

British heavyweight Moses Itauma, who trains with Joshua, said the bout was a “terrible” idea and Paul should “fire his advisers” as it was “100%” dangerous for the YouTuber to step into the ring.

“You don’t mess around with things like this,” Itauma told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“I like Jake Paul and I’m not saying he shouldn’t take the fight. I just feel like he needs to weigh up the outcomes. If I was Jake Paul’s brother, I’d be very worried.”

The 20-year-old also said he does not blame Joshua for taking the money to fight Paul rather than worrying about whether it will affect his boxing legacy.

Itauma added: “Your kids can’t eat legacy. If you’re talking about getting paid hundreds of millions of dollars to fight a YouTuber, why not?”

When we heard this speculation last week I wondered whether it was a publicity stunt to keep his name in the headlines.

Anthony Joshua is a former Olympic champion and a two-time world champion. He’s fought some of the biggest names in the sport, such Wladimir Klitschko, Oleksandr Usyk twice, and Daniel Dubois.

In contrast Paul has not fought anyone near the level of Joshua, and hasn’t really campaigned as a heavyweight.

I have just interviewed Moses Itauma – a rising star of British boxing – and he said Jake Paul should sack every member of his backroom staff who talked him into this contest, because on paper this looks like a huge mismatch.

But it will be a huge event, because Jake Paul is a huge internet personality.

Paul has always wanted people to classify him as a legitimate boxer and he has said for a while that he could beat Joshua because of the perceived vulnerability that he cannot take a big punch.

Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn said last week that his plan is to face Tyson Fury next year and that he was looking for a run-out in December against a lesser-known opponent.

But for the money being thrown at them, they thought ‘why not go out and get handsomely paid for it?’.

We’ve been told Joshua could make up to £50m from this and I guess ultimately the money was too good to turn down.

It’s incredible to talk about a two-time world champion taking on a YouTuber-turned-boxer – but this is where we are in the sport. (BBC)