Anthony Joshua Reveals He Was Tasked to 'Get Rid Of' Jake Paul in Boxing Match

Former unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua recently revealed on an episode of the "Mr Verzace Podcast" that he believes he was tasked with taking Jake Paul out of the sport of boxing during their 2025 fight.

Ahead of his highly anticipated return fight against the relatively unknown Kristian Prenga on July 25, Joshua sat down with Rick Reeno, CEO of Ring Magazine, on the "Mr Verzace Podcast" to speak about his fight with Jake Paul, the potential superfight between himself and Tyson Fury, and his upcoming fight against Prenga.

The ‘Strict Message'

Reeno asked Joshua about his response to criticism of his performance in his fight against Jake Paul, as apparently, people believed Joshua took too long to deliver a knockout.

Joshua stated, "I knew that if I threw a barrage of punches, in my mind, and I go in there and the referee waves the fight off after 30 seconds or two to three rounds, I don't think it would have been satisfying."

"There was a strict message that was given, and a task that was laid upon me, and that was to get rid of Jake Paul and remove him from our beloved sport, which is boxing," he remarked with a smile.

"Whether that took me one round, whether that took me six rounds, I believe the job was well and truly done," Joshua said.

Relive the satisfying knockout here:

https://youtube.com/shorts/Ua2U3K6lOsw?si=hwdSj5cQ5e0-Mz-K

Joshua was nearly correct, as after the fight, Paul had suffered a broken jaw and even recently considered retiring from the sport of boxing.

Joshua Credits Jake Paul Fight For Career Renewal

Reeno also asked if "AJ" felt his profile rise after the fight against Paul.

Joshua responded, "It went ‘boom.' I think a lot more eyes were able to see me."

He also mentioned that he took more than a year off leading up to the fight, after a knockout loss to Daniel Dubois back in September 2024.

"I'd taken a year out, so I'd like to shake off some cobwebs. A lot of people just saw the light coming back out of me because, you know, through life, through our sport, you get to see where people are at mentally."

"Even though I was performing on the biggest stage, we're going through things in our personal life, so taking that year out, I come back to Miami on the biggest stage and people see that light, that vibrant energy, regardless of Jake Paul, a lot of people said, ‘That's the guy we knew,' and it felt good to be back on a big stage."

Joshua made sure to share his gratitude, saying, "Credit to Jake Paul and his team. Great opportunity. I'm grateful. I understand the business, I understand the game. He gave me a chance to work, and I definitely delivered."

Joshua Returns to the Ring

Joshua will come back to competition after a difficult 2026. Earlier this year, he was involved in a fatal car crash that took the lives of his two beloved friends, Latif "Latz" Ayodele and Sina Ghami. Understandably, the accident affected him mentally to the point that rumors swirled about his potential retirement.

"AJ" is far from finished, however, as he looks forward to his fight against Prenga next month.

"I knew of Prenga before this fight was announced," Joshua revealed. "Even though I had my eyes elsewhere, the heavyweight division is the heavyweight division."

"He has a good record... big guy, he's looking in shape, and I think more so than that, is what it means to him, it's kind of the same as Rico [Verhoeven]."

Tyson Fury Fight and Boxing Goals

Joshua made sure not to look past Prenga and even humbly dismissed his potential fight against Tyson Fury as the ultimate defining fight for this era of the heavyweight division.

"There's a lot more fights to happen. A lot more good fights."

Joshua is not afraid of fighting the heavyweight division's brightest stars, who may potentially pose more of a challenge to him than Fury, who came out of retirement earlier this year and returned to fight against Arslanbek Makhmudov.

After Fury defeated Makhmudov, he called out Anthony Joshua, who was in attendance:

"It's one of the defining fights of this era because me and Fury... it can't be the only one because if I stay around long enough, there's the rematch with Dubois, there's a potential Fabio [Wardley] fight, there's an Agit [Kabayel] fight out there... there's a [Moises] Itauma fight as he's coming up the rankings. There's still the [Deontay] Wilder fight out there.

"These are going to be massive fights, so Fury's just another number, so I'm trying to say, I don't put him on no pedestal," Joshua stated.

Joshua also stated his long-term goal is to become a three-time world champion.

"I need another title," he stated. "I made a decision for myself. This is my purpose. I'm talented, I'm quite smart, I can do a lot of things, but I want to use all my energy and align my focus and just be a champion again."

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This story was originally published June 2, 2026 at 8:49 PM.