Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) co-founder and chief executive officer Nakisa Bidarian has declared that Jake Paul possesses the capability to beat former two-time heavyweight world champion Anthony Joshua, provided the YouTube star turned professional boxer is afforded a full, dedicated training camp in a potential second ring encounter between the two.
The bold assertion comes as Paul prepares to make his official return to the squared circle on Christmas Eve in Dubai, marking his first scheduled fight since suffering a punishing sixth-round stoppage defeat at the hands of Joshua last December. That bout marked the most daunting and ambitious step-up of Paul’s crossover boxing career. However, Bidarian insists that the specific circumstances surrounding that short-notice encounter offered an incomplete reflection of Paul’s potential against elite heavyweight competition.
Reflecting on the December fight, Bidarian revealed that he had originally held strong reservations about Paul accepting the monumental challenge on extremely short notice. Paul took the fight with just three weeks to prepare, introducing severe physical and tactical complications to his training setup. At the exact moment the opportunity arose, Paul was actively in the process of cutting weight for a planned bout against lightweight world champion Gervonta Davis. Consequently, Paul was forced to abruptly halt his weight-reduction regime and immediately pivot toward facing a elite heavyweight who naturally outweighed him by roughly 40 pounds.
Despite the vast disparity in weight, size, and professional pedigree, Bidarian argued that Paul acquitted himself remarkably well under the circumstances. Although Joshua ultimately secured the victory via sixth-round TKO, Paul managed to land several meaningful punches on the British star during the contest. In Bidarian’s view, those moments demonstrated that Joshua remains vulnerable inside the ring, while proving that Paul was not completely outmatched in terms of offensive capability, despite lacking a dedicated training camp to properly prepare for a natural heavyweight’s power and frame.
The physical consequences of taking on a two-time world heavyweight champion on three weeks’ preparation were severe. Joshua’s overwhelming power inflicted heavy damage during the sixth-round stoppage, breaking Paul’s jaw in two separate places. The injury required extensive medical procedure after the fight, including the extraction of several teeth and the surgical implantation of two titanium plates into Paul’s mouth to stabilize his shattered jawline.
Despite the brutal physical toll and the surgical intervention required, Paul’s reaction to the loss only solidified his promotional team’s faith in his resilience and durability. Bidarian expressed admiration for Paul’s conduct immediately following the fight, pointing out that despite enduring a twice-broken jaw and a referee stoppage, Paul remained inside the ring to deliver a detailed ten-minute post-fight broadcast interview.
According to Bidarian, Paul’s internal mindset following the ordeal has only become more hardened. In conversations with his promotional team standardizing his path forward, Paul reflected on the bout by claiming that he feels like a bigger dog than ever before. Paul explained that while the physical trauma was significant—admitting that a heavy blow felt like a memorable "zinger"—the sheer impact of Joshua’s power failed to mentally break or intimidate him. For Bidarian, the willingness to withstand such immense physical adversity and immediately speak to a global audience for ten minutes post-fight underlines Paul’s innate warrior spirit.
Bidarian also drew a direct comparison between Paul’s performance against Joshua and that of professional heavyweight Kristian Prenga, who faced Joshua in July. In that contest, Prenga suffered two knockdowns in the very first round before Joshua closed out the victory. Bidarian highlighted that Paul, despite stepping up 40 pounds on short notice while originally cutting weight for a lower division, fared better than Prenga by avoiding an outright clean knockout, surviving into the sixth round, and repeatedly landing solid strikes on the former champion.
While Paul works toward his return, Joshua is currently preparing for one of the biggest bouts of his career: a long-awaited all-British heavyweight showdown against Tyson Fury. Scheduled for December 11 at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium, the blockbuster fight sees Joshua aiming to solidify his position at the summit of the heavyweight division. Joshua has already made a bold prediction for the clash, stating that he intends to knock out Fury in the opening round, pointing to his history of explosive first-round finishes as evidence of his intent.
Darren Till ‘on the list’
Focusing on Paul’s immediate future, Most Valuable Promotions is finalizing the arrangements for his Christmas Eve bout in Dubai, which will serve as his first competitive outing following a 13-month hiatus from the ring. Bidarian confirmed that the process of selecting Paul’s next opponent is approaching its final stages, with the shortlist currently narrowed down to three or four candidates.
An official announcement regarding the opponent is expected within the next week or two. Among the primary names currently under consideration is former mixed martial arts contender Darren Till.
The potential inclusion of Till aligns with Paul’s ongoing strategy of matching himself against high-profile names from the combat sports world. Paul’s fight history already includes high-profile crossover bouts against legendary former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, former world champion Julio César Chávez Jr, MMA veteran Nate Diaz, and his heavyweight test against Joshua.
Earlier in the year, Bidarian had publicly noted that Paul’s broader target list for future fights also included elite combat sports figures such as former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou, British middleweight contender Chris Eubank Jr, and boxing star Ryan Garcia.
Addressing the criteria for selecting Paul’s Christmas Eve opponent, Bidarian explained that the goal is to construct a balanced, competitive matchup that generates high commercial interest while offering a fair athletic contest. The objective for Paul’s return is to secure a opponent who represents a true test of skill without carrying an overwhelming size or background advantage similar to the one Paul surrendered against Joshua.
Recalling the sequence of events that led to the Joshua bout 13 months ago, Bidarian noted that Paul had passionately pressed him to finalize the deal within that narrow three-week window, firmly believing at the time that he could pull off the upset. Now, having undergone jaw surgery, completed a year-long recovery period, and re-evaluated his career trajectory, Paul is set to step back into the spotlight on Christmas Eve in Dubai to initiate the next chapter of his boxing career.
