Anthony Joshua, Jake Paul keep things mostly respectful ahead of 'colossal' fight

A fight not many had on their radar goes down on Friday, December 19 from the Kaseya Center in Miami, Fla., as Jake Paul will lock horns with former two-time unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua in an eight-round affair. 

Paul and Joshua locked eyes for the first time on Friday afternoon in Miami for the introductory press conference. One notable thing coming out of the presser was the mutual respect between. People have been saying on social media that Joshua is miles ahead of Paul in terms of skill and ability which will result in a blowout six days from Christmas. From Joshua's point of view, he sees something completely different.

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"Talent focus, good team - nothing negative," Joshua said. "He's here to do his job. I could sit up here and try and address all the things that Jake doesn't do good, but I'm fighting the Jake that's going to do everything good on December 19th. So let me focus on that. He's a good person, does his thing, great team around him, puts in the work, and that's why he's sitting here now. Anyone out there in the world that works harder than the next person deserves to be a frontrunner, and he's a frontrunner in the boxing game right now.

"I think it's massive. It's colossal. It's making big news. We're bringing marketability together with ability."

When the fight got announced, right away the prevailing thought was that Paul is way in over his head, considering he's never anyone near the caliber of the 2012 Olympic gold medalist. Paul more than understands what he's up against and plans on doing what those critics say he can't do.

"He's one of the best heavyweights ever, but I believe that fighting a smaller man is oftentimes harder as a heavyweight because of the speed difference and because of the foot speed, because of the angles, because of the head being off of the center," Paul said. "And so all of that power is great, and he's knocked people out. I just have to avoid that one shot for eight rounds, and I believe that I can do that. So when I'm bouncing around the ring, jabbing, weaving, and doing all of these things, I know I can pick him apart and score points and make this a very, very big contest. People say, 'Oh, I respect Jake Paul for getting in there.' No, respect me because I'm about to win."

Things picked up a bit near the end of the press conference when it came to fight predictions. One predicted a stoppage, and the other predicted a master class.

"I'm going to bring him to another school of boxing that I don't think he's been exposed to yet," Joshua said. "So there's a few tricks I have up my sleeve to show Jake on December 19th.

"I think a fourth- or fifth-round knockout by me. Damn. There it is," Paul boldly claimed.

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