The real question nobody wants to ask out loud is this: what if Joshua shows up on December 19th in Florida and treats Jake Paul like a mortal enemy and it still isn’t enough?
All the talk about quiet rage and evil intentions sounds good until you remember the same man froze against Usyk twice and got sparked cold by a fat Ruiz who hadn’t boxed in years. Rage only works if the chin and the legs still answer the call.
Paul has spent six months calling Joshua old, boring, washed, corporate, scared. Joshua keeps doing that tight little smile thing and telling everyone he is calm. Calm is what you say when you have nothing left to prove and everything to lose.
Paul is twenty-eight, hungry, and has knocked out every single man he has faced since he decided boxing was his new hustle. Joshua is thirty-five, coming off a flat performance against Wallin and a gift knockout over Ngannou that fooled nobody who knows the game.
If Joshua comes out trying to play the destroyer he risks gassing out by round six the same way he did against Usyk.
If he boxes safe like sparring he plays right into Paul’s hands because Paul has shown he can go ten hard rounds and still have gas in the tank. Either way Paul holds the cards. Joshua has to prove he still belongs at the top table. Paul just has to survive and let the clock do the rest.
Will Joshua treat Paul like a sparring partner or like a mortal enemy
Look at the tapes. Every time Paul calls him boring Joshua’s eyes drop for half a second. That is not killer instinct. That is a man hearing the truth and not liking it. Paul has got inside his head deeper than any heavyweight ever managed.
December 19th is not about respect or legacy for Jake. It is about cashing the biggest cheque in combat sports history and walking out the new king.
Joshua can treat Paul like a mortal enemy all he wants. He can load up those big right hands and swing for the fences. Paul has been hit clean by Tommy Fury and Mike Perry and kept coming forward. Joshua’s power looked ordinary the last time he faced a live body.
All the rage in the world means nothing if the punch that lands is the one coming back at you.
Paul wanted the biggest fight on the planet. He got it. He wanted the biggest stage. Netflix gave it to him. He wanted the old guard to take him seriously. Joshua did exactly that and signed the contract.
Now the old guard has to prove the fire still burns. My money says the fire went out a long time ago and Paul is the one holding the torch on December 19th.
Joshua can try to play mortal enemy. Paul will just smile and keep walking him down until the legs go or the towel comes in.
Either way the kid from Cleveland leaves Florida with the biggest win of his life and the heavyweight division looking for a new script.
Some think Joshua is panicking a bit behind the scenes at the moment.
