ANTHONY JOSHUA looked to have bagged boxing’s biggest no-brainer bout of all time after a late substitution.
But in reality, the almost unthinkable fight between AJ and Jake Paul was nearly a YEAR in the making.
On November 17, the pair stunned the boxing world by announcing their unbelievable bout for December 19 in Miami.
But for a while it had been a matter of when, not if, Joshua would fight Paul.
This controversial and almost too mad to be true clash first hit the headlines in March, when Paul called AJ out on his podcast.
He audaciously said: “I want to fight Anthony Joshua because I know I will f***ing beat Anthony Joshua’s ass.
“He doesn’t have a chin, and he has no skill and he is stiff. I love you Anthony, and we are friends. But I want to fight you.”
Paul’s verbal onslaught and surprising challenge had even his closest confidants, including Nakisa Bidarian, stunned.
Bidarian co-founded Most Valuable Promotions alongside Paul – and like many could not believe what he was hearing.
He told SunSport: “So I reviewed the podcast and the next time I talked to Jake, I said, ‘Have you gone crazy? Have you lost your mind? What is this?
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“He’s like, ‘No, bro. Here’s why, boom, boom, boom.’ And that was the start of the conversation of AJ.”
Joshua – who met Paul in 2022 during a trip to Dubai – immediately phoned up the YouTuber-turned-boxer in an attempt to quite literally call his bluff.
But before long, the two were teasing a bout in 2026 on social media.
No one outside of Paul’s circle believed what he was saying, including Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn.
Hearn told us at the time: “Once they said 2026, it’s just clickbait at that point.”
But Bidarian insisted it was not a publicity stunt and met with Hearn in person in New York to prove it.
He revealed: “I reiterated how serious we were and that we wanted to do this in early 2026.
“We came to effectively a gentleman’s agreement on a framework that could work for the fight to happen, whether it was on Netflix or pay-per-view.”
But first, Paul planned to face 5ft 5in lightweight champ Gervonta Davis.
Bidarian said: “I think July, August, we had an agreement that we were going to pursue this in March, April time frame.
Jake Paul vs Anthony Joshua – all the info
A true Christmas miracle!
The world will stand still TOMORROW NIGHT as the face of British boxing, Anthony Joshua, is all set to go up against YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul.
AJ steps in on a month’s notice after Paul’s ‘David vs Goliath’ Gervonta Davis clash was axed due to Tank’s civil suit case.
And Joshua will be desperate not to suffer the same fate as legends Mike Tyson and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, who both lost to YouTuber-turned-boxer Paul.
Particularly as a handsome figure was negotiated to get this Judgement Day deal over the line due to AJ’s DAZN contract.
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“Once Gervonta was announced, we touched base and we both agreed if Jake got knocked out by Gervonta Davis, him fighting Anthony Joshua probably didn’t have the same legs.”
Paul, 28, was set to face Davis, 30, in a November 14 exhibition bout in Miami despite their huge FIVE STONE weight difference.
But the bout was thrown into doubt on October 30 when Davis’ ex-girlfriend filed a civil suit against the troubled boxer alleging domestic abuse.
One day later, MVP announced they were investigating the allegations levelled against Davis – who faced similar charges in the past.
By November 4, the fight was officially cancelled.
Bidarian said: “From the moment that the news came out, we started our investigations to get a firm understanding of what the civil lawsuit was about.
“And we got very comfortable within 12 hours of when we announced it, we’re moving on that these allegations have real merit, whether they were civil or criminal.
“Given Tank’s history, we had an unequivocal alignment that we had to move on from the fight.”
Jake Paul vs Anthony Joshua: All the information you need.
The news sparked a huge scramble to find a replacement opponent on just three weeks’ notice – with over 50 names in the mix.
Ryan Garcia was among the top choices but his promoters Golden Boy and broadcasters DAZN would not approve the switch to Netflix.
Pound-for-pound star Terence Crawford – who beat Canelo Alvarez in September – was also considered.
So too was Tommy Fury, the only man to beat Paul with a split-decision victory in 2023.
But Paul claimed a huge $15MILLION (£11m) offer to rematch was turned down by Fury – who cited he is unable to enter Florida or the United States.
Bidarian said: “I think Jake put it out there pretty fairly. A massive offer was made and the feedback was he’s not ready.”
As the search continued, the option to move Paul’s return to December became increasingly more viable.
Bidarian said: “During the process, when I say there were 60 fighters, that includes fighters who themselves came to us and say, ‘We wanna do it, we’re ready.’
“Rolly Romero being one, for example, Mario Barrios, there were a number of fighters who wanted to do this.
“Then we whittled down the list and said, here’s the fighters we’re gonna go after, and we started making those calls.
“There were multiple opponents that we were feeling really good about.
“Like Terence Crawford, I feel like if we wanted to be more flexible in terms of the structure and the location and the timing, that deal could have gotten done.
“But we were focused on doing what we wanted to do in the time frame that we wanted to do it and Joshua was the one that was most sure a big event that we could all feel good about.”
Paul decided to take matters into his own hands, reaching out to Joshua on Instagram, before the two had a private phone call over WhatsApp.
No managers or promoters involved. Just the two men who mattered most.
Bidarian revealed: “Jake just said, ‘Listen man, I wanna fight now.’ And I think AJ I was like, ‘This f***ing guy is actually serious.’ He wants to do this.
“And they agreed to do it, and that was pretty simple. And that’s why I’ve always said, once those two got aligned that they wanna do it, it was up to us to figure it out.
“And I’ve said this and I’ll say it again, credit to Eddie Hearn for delivering AJ with the opportunity.”
It was not the first time the two had directly spoken, but this time it was far more cordial.
Bidarian said: “It was a very short call.
“I can tell you, I know they’ve DM’d in the past where AJ has said to him, ‘I’m gonna make you feel pain like you’ve never felt before.’
“And Jake has said, ‘I welcome it, big boy.’ I’ve seen that discussion back and forth.
“I’ve seen AJ make fun of Jake’s training and Jake sends him pictures of him on the ground getting knocked out by Dubois.
“So there’s been real aggressive back and forth communication between them. But I don’t think that phone call was aggressive.
I don’t care if Joshua’s fighting Tyson Fury. That might be bigger in the UK, but it definitely will not be bigger in the global sense.
Nakisa Bidarian
“That phone call was a businessman and Jake Paul saying, ‘Hey, we’re looking at a few different options, I want to fight you. Are you in?’
“I think AJ smartly looked at it like, ‘What a massive opportunity for my brand to grow further, destroy this delusional kid who thinks he can hang with me’”
As talks progressed behind the scenes, on Wednesday, November 12, Ring Magazine reported the fight was being “finalised”.
But Bidarian reiterated: “We were getting close. It wasn’t definitive until that weekend, but we felt pretty good.”
By Saturday night, the deal was in fact done and Saudi boxing chief Turki Alalshikh clearly caught wind and looked to divert attention.
Alalshikh announced live on air plans for AJ to fight in Riyadh in February before teasing a September showdown with Tyson Fury.
But Bidarian argued: “Let me be unequivocally clear here, the big AJ event is happening this Friday. It’s in Miami. It’s on Netflix. It’s Jake versus Joshua.
“Whatever you do after won’t match this. It doesn’t matter. I don’t care if Joshua’s fighting Tyson Fury.
“That might be bigger in the UK, but it definitely will not be bigger in the global sense.”
