Anthony Joshua takes shot at Tyson Fury when comparing him to Jake Paul

Anthony Joshua may be planning to “break” Jake Paul, but he still found time to praise the influencer-turned-boxer while firing a dig at long-time rival Tyson Fury.

Joshua and Paul spoke at their launch press conference to formally announce their eight-round heavyweight main event on December 19 at the Kaseya Center in Miami, which will be broadcast live on streaming giant Netflix.

A successful and lucrative outing against Paul would move Joshua into 2026, where long-standing talk of a British super-fight with Tyson Fury may finally come to fruition, provided that ‘The Gypsy King’ ends the retirement that he started back in January.

Promoter Eddie Hearn, alongside Turki Alalshikh, recently teased the possibility of the long-delayed showdown taking place in September next year. For now, though, Joshua’s attention is firmly on Paul, as he revealed at the launch press conference.

“He’s a conqueror, his mentality is solid.”

‘AJ’ then seized the chance to land a verbal shot at Fury, who has publicly backed Paul to pull off what would be the biggest upset in boxing history.

“He’s better than Tyson Fury — he’s actually sitting here. I take him seriously, I give him the respect he deserves.”

Joshua’s claim that Paul is “better” than Fury was clearly a tongue-in-cheek reference to the fact Paul has stepped up to fight him.

Fury, by contrast, is a former lineal heavyweight champion, a past WBC title holder, and the man behind an unforgettable trilogy with Deontay Wilder. His only two defeats have come against the sport’s current number one heavyweight, Oleksandr Usyk.