Boxing purists are walking around like someone just kicked their dog and stole their pint. They hate this fight with every fibre of their being.
They hate the Netflix logo on the canvas. They hate that the main event on December 19th in Florida is a twenty-eight-year-old YouTuber against a thirty-five-year-old former champion who has lost four times.
They hate it because deep down they know the kid they call a clown is about to make them eat every single word.They moan that Paul only fought washed UFC guys and Tommy Fury.
They forget Joshua’s last five opponents were Usyk twice, a blown-up cruiserweight in Dubois, a flat Wallin and a one-fight wonder in Ngannou.
The same purists who screamed Joshua was finished after those performances now act like he is still prime 2017 Wembley. The hypocrisy stinks worse than the old gym socks they worship.
They hate the money. They hate that Paul turned a Disney career into the biggest heavyweight purse of 2025. Truth is the sport has always been about money.
Why Paul vs Joshua is the fight boxing purists love to hate
Jack Johnson fought on horseback for cash. Ali boxed a wrestler in Japan. Tyson fought McNeeley fresh out of prison. Every generation cried that the sky was falling when the cheques got silly. The sky never fell. It just paid the bills.
Purists want twelve-round chess matches in front of two thousand diehards. The rest of the planet wants fireworks and knockouts. Paul sells fireworks.
Joshua used to sell knockouts until the chin started asking questions. Now he sells caution. Caution does not move the needle. Paul moves it so hard the needle is about to snap off.
They call it a freak show. Fine. Freak shows built the sport. Hagler-Hearns was beautiful but it was Leonard-Duran and Tyson-Spinks that paid the rent.
Paul versus Joshua is the biggest heavyweight gate since Fury-Usyk and it is happening because one man understood the new game while the old guard kept polishing trophies from 2018.
The purists will sit there on December 19th with arms folded, praying Joshua saves their precious sport from the influencer.
Secretly they know the truth. If Paul walks through the smoke and plants Joshua on the canvas the old rulebook gets torn up for good. The same men screaming loudest today will be the first ones begging for Paul versus the next champion tomorrow.
They hate this fight because it proves boxing never belonged to them. It always belonged to the man who could sell the dream biggest.
Right now that man is Jake Paul. The purists can hate it all they want. They will still watch every second and they will still talk about it for years.
That is the real reason they hate it. Paul is about to make them irrelevant and they can feel it coming.
