Anthony Joshua has revealed that he has deliberately kept his looming fight with Jake Paul out of conversations at home, choosing not to discuss boxing with his nine-year-old son JJ out of fear that it would simply bore him.
The former two-time heavyweight world champion faces Paul in Miami on Friday in one of the most contentious crossover bouts boxing has ever sanctioned.
For Joshua, 36, the contest represents a return to the ring after his bruising knockout loss to Daniel Dubois last September.
For the sport, however, it is another flashpoint in the uneasy relationship between elite boxing and celebrity-driven promotion.
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Yet inside Joshua’s home, the fight barely registers.
Unlike Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, who recently admitted one of his children asked about a potential bout with Paul because it had become playground gossip, Joshua insists boxing never comes through the front door.
“I’m sure he knows who Jake is but I don’t really take boxing home,” Joshua said. “If I’m honest with you, he hasn’t spoken about a fight, I haven’t actually spoken to him about a fight. We talk about maths, the purpose of life.
Anthony Joshua has revealed that he has deliberately kept his looming fight with Jake Paul out of conversations at home, choosing not to discuss boxing with his nine-year-old son JJ out of fear that it would simply bore him
|GETTY
“I talk to him about confidence but I don’t really talk to him about my career and stuff, like, ‘Son, let me tell you about the jab I threw today in the gym. I was slipping this.’
“He’d be like, ‘Shut up, Dad.’ You know what I’m saying? I don’t really bother him with that talk but I’m sure he knows.”
Joshua, who has always been fiercely protective of his private life, added that even the unusual nature of the Paul bout has failed to spark curiosity.
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Five facts about boxing that fans might not know | GBNEWS/PA“He likes gaming, but it’s not a conversation that he brings up and never brought up,” Joshua said. “And he knows what I do way before Jake Paul.
“And even now I’m fighting Jake Paul, he hasn’t brought up the conversation because I’ve never taken boxing past the front door if I’m honest.”
The fight itself has divided opinion across the sport.
Paul, 28, has built a lucrative boxing career while facing accusations of spectacle over substance.
He brings a 12-1 record into the bout, with his only defeat coming against Tommy Fury in 2023, and most recently beat Julio Cesar Chavez Jr at cruiserweight in June.
Joshua, by contrast, remains an Olympic gold medallist and former unified heavyweight champion, despite the setback against Dubois.
Jake Paul and Anthony Joshua will do battle in the early hours of Saturday morning
| NETFLIXThe mismatch on paper has raised serious safety concerns.
Paul is conceding significant size, experience and pedigree, with Joshua restricted only by a 245lb weigh-in limit.
The fight is professionally sanctioned at heavyweight, scheduled for eight rounds with 10oz gloves, a combination that has alarmed many observers.
Joshua understands the weight of expectation, not just on himself but on boxing’s credibility. He also recalls the last time he was placed in a similar position, when he emphatically knocked out former UFC champion Francis Ngannou in March 2024.
“I’m a very like respectful guy brought up by a good family, but if I can kill you, I will kill you,” Joshua said. “That’s just how I am. And this is just the job I do, so let’s go.
“I’m carrying boxing on my back. I’ve done it with the Ngannou fight and I’m going to do it again. I understand the expectation.
“I don’t carry it because the expectation I have of myself is already enough, but I understand it, I acknowledge it and I respect it.”