Ranking Jake Paul’s Most Likely Next Opponent After Anthony Joshua Knockout Loss
Three days after Anthony Joshua broke his jaw in two places, Jake Paul sat across from his brother on the IMPAULSIVE podcast with titanium plates freshly screwed into his face and did something that revealed more character than critics want to admit—he kept fighting. Not with his fists this time, but with words aimed at Francis Ngannou, calling the former UFC heavyweight champion “lowkey soft” and claiming he’d done better against Joshua than the former UFC heavyweight champion did.
Say what you want about the callout’s credibility, but the Problem Child had just survived six rounds with a two-time unified heavyweight champion who’d destroyed better fighters in less time.
Paul’s Brave AJ Gamble
The December 19 fight in Miami wasn’t supposed to be competitive, with online betting sites making the British knockout artist unsurprisingly a massive favorite. Heading into the clash, the Bovada boxing odds made AJ a mightily short -800 favorite to get the job done, and ultimately, he did. But despite being somewhat of a sacrificial lamb, Paul not only agreed to fight a man far bigger and far more experienced, but he entered the ring on fight night as game as they come.
The Brash American knew full well what the boxing world expected—a quick, brutal knockout that would expose the YouTube star as a pretender. Instead, he made Joshua work for it. Sure, Paul spent the first four rounds using movement and clinching to survive, but that’s smart boxing when you’re facing someone with Joshua’s power and pedigree. He landed plenty of shots of his own before AJ finally had him cornered, dropping him four times between rounds five and six before getting the stoppage victory. But even in defeat, Paul gained plenty of newfound respect in his unsuccessful attempt to climb Mount Everest.
Now, however, attention turns to what’s next. While the Problem Child continues to recover from that brutal broken jaw, the rumors continue to circulate surrounding who his next opponent may be. Here, we look at the two frontrunners.
Francis Ngannou
Here’s what makes the Ngannou callout so perfectly cynical: Paul’s promotional company, Most Valuable Promotions, has business ties with the PFL, where Ngannou’s contract is reportedly expiring. So Paul goes on his brother’s podcast, jaw wired shut, and publicly disrespects his potential business partner by calling him soft and claiming he’s got no chin. It’s performance art masquerading as beef, and it seems as though everyone is lapping it up.
The promotional logic writes itself. Both guys just took brutal knockouts from the same man. Ngannou went down in two rounds back in March 2024; Paul lasted six but got dropped four times and left with a face full of hardware. MMA fans would tune in to watch Ngannou redeem himself in boxing. YouTube fans would love to see Paul try to prove he’s tougher than a former UFC champion. It’s a perfect crossover spectacle that generates massive interest without requiring either man to fight someone who might actually hurt their earning potential long-term—the ideal blueprint for a Jake Paul opponent.
Except Ngannou already said no once. When Paul’s team approached him in November as a replacement after Gervonta Davis pulled out, Francis told TMZ the fight made no sense: “Don’t disrespect me like that.” AJ was only too happy to take the bucketload of cash and drop the Problem Child repeatedly. Now that he has, will “The Predator” do the same?
Canelo Alvarez
Paul suggesting he’d fight Canelo Alvarez “in 10 days” after getting his jaw shattered might be the most Jake Paul thing imaginable. He’s been calling out the unified super middleweight champion for years, claiming their cruiserweight clash would be “the biggest fight, arguably even bigger than me vs. Tyson.”
Reality check: there’s no vacant cruiserweight world title for them to fight over. Canelo explicitly said there’s “no chance” he’d fight Paul because it would be “bad for boxing.” The skill gap between a 12-2 fighter who just got demolished and a pound-for-pound great is absurd. And yet ESPN’s Mike Coppinger reported in February 2025 that they were “finalizing a deal” for May 3 in Las Vegas.
That ultimately never came to fruition. Turki Al-Sheikh’s billions instead managed to put together a clash between Canelo and Terrence Crawford, but as the Mexican lost that huge matchup and looked some way past his best, has the door reopened for a money-spinner against the Problem Child?
There’s no doubt that Canelo sees his level as much higher than a circus bout with Paul, but there can be no denying that the fight would generate mind-boggling money, despite being a competitive mismatch. Maybe that’s the whole point—Paul keeps the callout alive not because it’ll happen, but because it positions him as ambitious enough to chase legitimate champions. It’s brand management disguised as matchmaking.
