Roberto Duran sums up Anthony Joshua fighting Jake Paul perfectly

Roberto Duran has shared his thoughts on Anthony Joshua and Jake Paul preparing to go toe-to-toe in their heavyweight dust-up on December 19.

The pair will square off in an eight-round professional contest at the Kaseya Center, Miami, with many deeming this to be a rather straightforward comeback fight for Joshua.

‘AJ’ has not fought since his fifth-round stoppage defeat to Daniel Dubois in September 2024, where he touched the canvas four times.

Since then, the 36-year-old has opted to leave Ben Davison, the head coach for his last three outings, and join the training team of heavyweight king Oleksandr Usyk.

This, Joshua believes, should allow the two-time world champion to not only rediscover his prior form, but also add a few extra strings to his bow.

After his fight with Paul, which he expects to come through in emphatic fashion, Joshua is then set to return to action as soon as February rolls around.

Expecting a far tougher challenge than what his upcoming assignment will likely offer, it is perhaps unsurprising that the Olympic champion has made these major changes to his training set-up.

As for Paul, it would appear that the majority of fans are not even giving the YouTuber-turned-boxer a chance of causing a monumental upset later this month.

In fact, there are some who have suggested that the matchup could be scripted, or at least includes several elements that may make it a more competitive spectacle.

One of those more sceptical onlookers, it seems, is Duran, who has revealed his view of the controversial fight in an interview with IFL TV.

“This is obviously not a real fight; it’s just a pure film. I’m very interested to see what happens but, if it was a real fight, I think we all know what would happen.

“Will it be a film or will it be the real thing? If it’s going to be scripted, talk to my sons – they’ll know what will happen.”