Jake Paul vs Anthony Joshua Predictions, Picks, Odds for Friday, Dec. 19

Jake Paul and Anthony Joshua will fight on Friday Night, with the main card set to broadcast live at 8:00 p.m. ET on Netflix, and ringwalk for the main event is expected around 10:30 p.m. ET from the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida.

Let's get into my Paul vs Joshua predictions and boxing picks for Friday, December 19.

Jake Paul vs Anthony Joshua Predictions, Picks, Odds for Friday, Dec. 19

Jake Paul vs Anthony Joshua Boxing Preview

The circus is in Miami this Friday night.

Jake Paul (12-1, 7 KOs) is in for the fight of his life against by far the biggest (literally and metaphorically) challenge of his controversial boxing career, former unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs).

We don't do the amount of boxing coverage that we used to, but Joshua is someone I've covered extensively here, and elsewhere, during his career, so let me tell you exactly what Paul is in for, since you likely know more about the YouTuber turned boxer as opposed to the former multi-time world champion.

Jake Paul vs Anthony Joshua Betting Predictions, Analysis

Joshua, 36, was the consensus best heavyweight in the world at his peak, and was at least in the discussion for nearly a decade straight until recently.

Joshua won his first world title in April of 2016, knocking out Charles Martin in two rounds, and was 6-0 with five KOs in world title bouts before being stopped by Andy Ruiz on June 1, 2019, in the biggest boxing upset — and one of the most stunning sports outcomes — of this century. Joshua was a 25-to-1 favorite.

Joshua earned a unanimous decision in the rematch against an overweight Ruiz later that year and made one more successful title defense before losing back-to-back fights against the current heavyweight king and arguable boxing pound-for-pound No. 1 Oleksandr Usyk.

Usyk outpointed Joshua in September 2021 and August 2022.

Joshua, today, is a world heavyweight title contender.

Last we saw him, he got knocked out by Daniel Dubois, who Joshua overlooked and tried to "big boy" by completely neglecting responsible defensive principles, and attempted to outgun the powerful and less accomplished Dubois, a 6-to-1 underdog.

I bet Dubois to win by KO or TKO at +600, while also winning the over 1.5 knockdowns bet. It was a dumb strategy I expected Joshua to deploy because he didn't really respect Dubois the way he should.

That said, the last time we saw Joshua before that was against former UFC Heavyweight Champion Francis Ngannou, who many believed was actually a future world champion because he pushed an out-of-shape, unserious Tyson Fury in a crossover bout beforehand.

I took Joshua to win by stoppage at a hilariously awful -124, which he did in a dominant Round 2. Why? Because, unlike Fury, Joshua took the fight seriously.

Joshua understood that his reputation and boxing itself were resting on his shoulders, because he legitimately loves this. For all the criticism he's earned for his chin, and perhaps being overrated by some at his best, AJ takes his craft very seriously.

Bottom line: Joshua is an all-time great who will be a first ballot Hall of Famer, and Paul lost to Tommy Fury eight pounds over the light heavyweight limit.

Paul's gotten better, but when he started boxing, Joshua was already him. He was an Olympic gold medalist in 2012, when Paul was 15. And he's not decades beyond his best, like Mike Tyson, or a laughing stock former middleweight champion like Julio Cesar Chavez, or primarily skilled in MMA, like several other Paul challengers.

Plus, this is Joshua's true weight class. Joshua is 6-foot-6 with an 82-inch reach, and has weighed around 250 pounds for five straight fights.

Paul has one fight at heavyweight, where he weighed 227 against Tyson, and has otherwise never been above the cruiserweight limit of 200 pounds.

If we're assuming Joshua has the same approach he had with Ngannou, and he's fighting on behalf of whatever honor boxing hasn't killed yet, as well as his own reputation, this won't last long. If it does, then something went wrong… really, really wrong (or scripted — though, I'm not buying that).

In summary, I'll toss this over to John Fury, father of former heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.

"Anthony Joshua could knock Jake Paul out with his dck," Fury said. "If it goes any other way, you know it's fckin' fixed, don't ya?"

Paul vs Joshua Best Bets

• Anthony Joshua to Win Between Rounds 1-4 (-163, bet365)
• 2+ Knockdowns (+105, FanDuel)
• Anthony Joshua to Win Between Rounds 1-2 (+150, DraftKings)

Ultimately, this is a smart business plan for Paul.

Take a real challenge above your head, get knocked out, say you went for it (and he is, to be fair), and pivot fully to building out Most Valuable Promotions amid the Saudi/Zuffa/TKO boxing takeover.

If this goes to the cards, then Joshua let the sport down.

Enjoy the fight and don't go broke, especially over a circus bout.