Anthony Joshua KO Fuels Jake Paul’s Next Boxing Target

Jake Paul is returning to boxing after Anthony Joshua knocked him out in December 2025, and the YouTube-turned-prizefighter already has his next target picked: former heavyweight world champion Francis Ngannou. Most Valuable Promotions CEO Nakisa Bidarian confirmed Paul’s return plans on Monday, March 23, just months after the British heavyweight ended Paul’s unbeaten record in the sixth round. The announcement reframes Joshua’s dominant performance as the catalyst for Paul’s next chapter.

Paul did not exit quietly. Despite suffering a broken jaw in the stoppage loss, he wasted little time naming Ngannou as his preferred opponent and framing the matchup in blunt terms that the boxing world has come to expect from him.

How Anthony Joshua Ended Jake Paul’s Unbeaten Run

Anthony Joshua stopped Jake Paul in the sixth round of their December 2025 heavyweight bout, delivering the kind of clean, concussive finish that defined Joshua’s best years at the top of the division. The fight had been framed as a credibility test for Paul, and Joshua passed it emphatically, leaving Paul with a broken jaw and his first professional defeat.

Breaking down the advanced metrics of heavyweight stoppages, the sixth-round finish fits a familiar Joshua pattern: patient pressure in the early rounds, followed by a decisive power shot once the opponent’s defense breaks down. Paul, for his part, lasted longer than many predicted. He entered the ring having built his record against fighters outside the traditional boxing pipeline, but Joshua’s combination of reach, timing, and punching power represented a different category entirely. The numbers suggest Paul showed genuine durability — a broken jaw sustained mid-fight and yet he continued until the stoppage — though the outcome was never seriously in doubt once Joshua found his range.

One alternative reading deserves acknowledgment: Paul’s willingness to take the Joshua fight at all, regardless of the result, expanded his commercial footprint in ways a safer opponent never could. Whether that calculus pays off athletically is a separate question from whether it paid off as a business decision.

Paul’s Own Words: ‘I’ll Knock Him Out Like Anthony Joshua Did’

Jake Paul told Sky Sports News that Francis Ngannou is an easy fight for him, adding: “I think he is a terrible boxer. I’ll knock him out like Anthony Joshua did”. The quote carries a specific tactical logic — Ngannou, the former UFC heavyweight champion, was himself stopped by Joshua in a 2023 heavyweight clash, making the comparison pointed rather than random.

Paul’s promoter Nakisa Bidarian, CEO of Most Valuable Promotions, confirmed the return plans publicly, lending institutional weight to what might otherwise read as post-fight bluster. Bidarian’s involvement signals that a Ngannou fight is being actively pursued rather than floated as a social media provocation. Paul has consistently used high-profile losses in his orbit — whether his own or opponents’ — as promotional leverage, and invoking Joshua’s name here serves double duty: it reminds the audience of the biggest fight of Paul’s career while positioning Ngannou as a winnable next step.

Key Developments in the Paul-Joshua-Ngannou Story

• Jake Paul sustained a broken jaw during the Anthony Joshua stoppage loss in December 2025, requiring recovery time before any return bout.
• Most Valuable Promotions CEO Nakisa Bidarian publicly confirmed Paul’s boxing return following the Joshua defeat, giving the comeback official organizational backing.
• Paul’s sixth-round KO loss to Joshua marked his first professional defeat after building an unbeaten record against non-traditional opponents.
• The Caroline Dubois vs. Terri Harper WBC and WBO lightweight unification fight, scheduled for April 5 at Olympia in Kensington, is part of the same Sky Sports boxing calendar that broadcast the Joshua-Paul card.
• Paul described Ngannou specifically as “a terrible boxer,” framing the Cameroonian as a beatable name rather than a genuine heavyweight threat.

What Does the Ngannou Fight Mean for Paul’s Boxing Future?

Jake Paul targeting Francis Ngannou reflects a deliberate rebuild strategy after the Joshua defeat. Ngannou carries massive name recognition from his UFC championship reign and his own high-profile boxing losses, making him commercially viable without posing the same technical threat as a seasoned professional boxer. For Paul’s camp, the fight offers a chance to re-enter the win column against a fighter the broader public knows, while the Joshua reference in Paul’s own trash talk keeps the heavyweight champion’s name — and Paul’s biggest career moment — front and center in the promotional narrative.

Francis Ngannou’s boxing record adds context here. The Cameroonian suffered a stunning upset loss to Anthony Joshua in March 2023 at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, getting stopped in the second round after a brief knockdown sequence. That result, combined with Ngannou’s earlier split-decision loss to Tyson Fury in October 2023, established that his punching power does not automatically translate into boxing competence at the elite level. Paul is betting the same structural weaknesses that Joshua exploited will be accessible to him as well.

The broader boxing calendar matters here too. Sky Sports has the Caroline Dubois vs. Terri Harper lightweight unification card on April 5, and the network’s continued investment in both traditional world-title fights and crossover events like Joshua-Paul suggests the commercial infrastructure for a Paul-Ngannou card already exists. Based on available data, the fight has not been formally announced, but Bidarian’s public confirmation of Paul’s return removes the biggest organizational obstacle.

Where Does Anthony Joshua Go From Here?

Anthony Joshua’s decisive win over Paul reinforced his standing as one of heavyweight boxing’s most bankable names heading into 2026. The former two-time IBF, WBA, and WBO unified heavyweight champion has now beaten both Paul and Ngannou in recent years, giving his management team considerable leverage in negotiating his next major fight. The numbers reveal a pattern: Joshua performs best when facing opponents who lack elite defensive footwork, and both Paul and Ngannou fit that profile. His next logical step involves pursuing a world title shot, with the WBC heavyweight picture centered on Oleksandr Usyk and the IBF title held by Daniel Dubois as the most prominent available targets. Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn at Matchroom Boxing has not publicly named a next opponent, but the Paul victory adds momentum to whatever negotiation is underway.