Jake Paul plays dangerous game in hatching ugly fight with Joshua

The unsurprising confirmation of “a colossal global showdown” between Jake Paul and Anthony Joshua arrived yesterday with a dull thud.

- Donald McRae

The YouTuber Jake Paul beat Mike Tyson in a much-criticised professional bout last year

(ANDREW COULDRIDGE/ ACTION IMAGES/ REUTERS)

That grand description of an eight-round scrap between a former YouTuber and a former world heavyweight champion was supplied by Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions, which announced that the contest will be screened live on Netflix on 19 December and called Judgment Day.

Boxing operates ina netherworld that appears to have sunk far beyond any fear of judgment, while Paul has always had delusions of grandeur as anovice pro. But even boxing may have to consider its own culpability should Paul be badly hurt and end up in hospital.

Paul isa brilliant hustler and, until now, he has chosen his opponents with deliberate care to avoid excessive danger. His most obviously successful stunt was to entice a 58-year-old Mike Tyson into the ring last November. It was an inevitable charade as Tyson was a shell of the great he had once been.