Jake Paul receives ‘glowing’ review from sparring partner ahead of Anthony Joshua fight

Dec 3, 2025 - 20:45

Jake Paul is said to have held his own in sparring with some top heavyweight boxers.

The ex-Disney star is set to square off against Anthony Joshua on December 19 at Miami’s Kaseya Center.

Lawrence Okolie celebrating his WBC bridgerweight championship win. — Okolie was impressed after sparring with Paul

Paul, a natural cruiserweight, will be moving up to heavyweight for a second time in 13 months after previously beating a 58-year-old Mike Tyson last year.

While Joshua isn’t at the peak of his powers anymore, the Olympic gold medalist is still an extremely dangerous prospect for a novice boxer like Paul.

The YouTuber-turned-boxer is therefore leaving no stone unturned in preparation for the bout and has drafted in some elite sparring.

Jared Anderson, Frank Sanchez and Lawrence Okolie all shared some rounds with Paul last week at his gym in Puerto Rico.

And the latter sent a ‘glowing’ report back to his trainer, Joe Gallagher.

“I messaged Lawrence, and he was quite glowing about Jake Paul, to be honest, on how well he was doing with Frank Sanchez and Jared Anderson,” Gallagher told BoxingScene.

Who are Jake Paul’s sparring partners?

Okolie (21-1) is the WBC’s No. 1-ranked heavyweight and was recently ordered to face Moses Itauma in a final eliminator to determine Oleksandr Usyk’s mandatory challenger.

The former WBC cruiserweight and bridgerweight champion returns to action on December 19 against a yet to be announced opponent in Lagos, Nigeria.

Sanchez (25-1) is being lined up for an IBF final eliminator bout next year and has proven himself to be a dark horse of the division.

The Cuban slickster holds an impressive win over Efe Ajagba, but was beaten by Agit Kabayel in his last outing.

A tale of the tape comparing Anthony Joshua's boxing record to Jake Paul's — Here’s how ‘AJ’ measures up with Paul, who is eight years his junior

He is expected to box Richard Torrez Jr next, who accepted the IBF’s call after Itauma, Ajagba, Daniel Dubois, and Filip Hrgovic all turned down the fight.

Anderson (18-1) was set to receive the next offer to face Sanchez after Torrez Jr.

The 26-year-old was once viewed as a world champion in waiting before a crushing defeat to Martin Bakole last year.

Anderson has since returned to winning ways against the unheralded Marios Kollias.

He was expected to box Jarrell Miller in September on the Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford undercard.

However, Anderson pulled out of the bout.