Jake Paul has unveiled three top heavyweight sparring partners to prepare him for fighting Anthony Joshua.
Paul (12-1, 7 KOs) will meet Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs) in the ring on Dec. 19 in Miami in an eight-round heavyweight contest, remarkably pitting an ex-YouTuber against a two-time world champion.
Paul is taking no chances with the quality of his sparring partners before the biggest challenge of his boxing career.
Jared Anderson, Frank Sanchez and Lawrence Okolie have been welcomed into his camp.
“Good rounds,” Paul posted to social media alongside a photo of the three visiting fighters.
Okolie (22-1, 16 KOs) had previously hinted at his curiosity to step into the ring with Paul.
“I want to go help Jake Paul, give him a chance. I want to go out there to Puerto Rico. What I don’t want to happen to him is he gets absolutely destroyed in a round or whatever if AJ turns it on,” Okolie said.
“I want him to have a decent feeling of what it’s like to be in there with a world-class heavyweight beforehand.”
Britain’s Okolie, a former WBO cruiserweight and WBC bridgerweight champion, is building his heavyweight pathway and will return in Nigeria, on the same night as Joshua vs. Paul.
The size of Jake Paul’s sparring partners
Anderson (18-1, 15 KOs) remains a big hope for the United States in the heavyweight division, despite a setback. His undefeated record was taken last year by Martin Bakole, but he has since responded with another victory as he rebuilds.
Cuba’s Sanchez (25-1, 18 KOs) is similarly edging back to the top of the division after losing his unbeaten start in 2023 to Agit Kabayel.
The experienced trio will bring vital physicality to Paul’s preparations.
Joshua stands 6-foot-6 and has a weight restriction of 245 pounds for the Paul fight.
Okolie is an inch shorter than Joshua and weighed 262 pounds for his last fight.
Anderson and Sanchez are both 6-foot-4 and weighed 252 pounds and 238 pounds respectively for the fights they recently lost.
Paul also revealed at his pre-fight news conference opposite Joshua that he has had Cassius Chaney in his camp as a sparring partner.
Chaney (24-3, 17 KOs) is a 6-foot-6 contender who is back in the win column after a pair of defeats.
