Jake Paul’s next fight has been announced, but it won’t be the blockbuster crossover many had hoped. The YouTube star-turned-boxer will instead take on Gervonta Davis in an exhibition bout on November 15 at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, streaming on Netflix.
The Paul-Joshua super-fight that had been talked about by promoters is off the table, at least for now. Reports from Mike Coppinger indicate the talks collapsed over “network issues,” with Paul’s team and promoter Eddie Hearn failing to align rights and platforms with Joshua’s DAZN deal. Joshua, 35, is in the middle of a five-year agreement with DAZN reportedly worth around £100 million per year, complicating any future crossover under current terms.
Paul hasn’t fought since his points win over former world champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. last June. Chavez Jr. later faced arrest in connection with alleged cartel ties before being deported back to Mexico. The heavyweight talk had fans buzzing about a potential mega-fight with Joshua, but those hopes were dashed as the two sides could not reconcile distribution rights.
In the upcoming matchup, Davis is the WBA lightweight world champion entering the bout with Paul. Davis, a 30-year-old from Baltimore, carries a professional record of 30 wins and one defeat, with 28 knockouts. He’s known for marquee wins over Ryan Garcia, Yuriorkis Gamboa, and Leo Santa Cruz. Davis’s last outing saw him draw with Lamont Roach Jr. in a controversial decision where a knockdown was not ruled as such by the referee, a result many observers debated.
Weight questions loom over Paul vs. Davis, given Paul’s most recent fight occurred at the cruiserweight limit of 200 pounds (and he weighed in at 199.4 pounds against Chavez Jr.). It remains to be seen what catchweight, if any, will be set for the November exhibition, and how the different platforms and audiences will be handled on Netflix.
The Joshua clash had long been pitched as a landmark crossover, but the current rights landscape appears to keep such a meeting out of reach for now. For Paul, who built his boxing profile largely through high-profile, streamer-backed events, the Netflix-broadcasted Davis bout offers another chance to maximize exposure and keep momentum going.
What this means going forward is uncertain, but the move signals Paul’s continued preference for high-draw, exhibition-style showdowns that appeal to a broad audience, while promoters and fans wait to see if a Joshua showdown can be revived under a more harmonized rights framework.
In summary, Jake Paul will fight Gervonta Davis in an exhibition on Netflix on November 15 in Atlanta, after negotiations for a Joshua bout fell apart due to network/rights issues tied to their respective promotions and platforms. The development keeps Paul in the spotlight and fans curious about future crossovers, even as the heavyweight dream bout between Paul and Joshua remains on hold.