Jake Paul has spent years demanding to be recognised as a “real” boxer.
He has called out the likes of Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, while at the same time picking opponents ranging from retired MMA fighters and faded ex-champions to reality TV personalities and even a grandfather.
But on Friday in Miami, that sideshow collides with boxing’s top tier as Paul faces two-time heavyweight world champion and Olympic gold medallist Anthony Joshua.
Some give Paul, the Disney-actor-turned-YouTuber-turned-boxer, credit for daring. Others question his sanity. Almost nobody gives him a chance.
“I worry about Jake’s health,” trainer Joe Gallagher tells BBC Sport.
Former world champion and Team GB coach Richie Woodhall says Joshua is the “hardest puncher” he has ever had on the pads.
Liverpool’s two-division champion Natasha Jonas calls the whole event simply “wild”.
That tension with boxing’s old guard irritates Paul. In fight week, he bristled at the mention of criticism, describing detractors as a “peanut gallery that doesn’t exist” and insisting the question of whether he belongs no longer concerns him.
On paper, Paul-Joshua is the biggest mismatch to headline a boxing event.
Yet inside Paul’s camp, the tone is very different. There is a belief the 28-year-old has improved far more than the public realise
Paul has built the kind of operation only someone with serious finances – and intent – could assemble. Even sceptics acknowledge the graft.
“He’s not one of these people who say it but don’t live it. He takes it seriously,” Jonas says.
He trains out of a £3m converted warehouse in Puerto Rico, a full-time base with recovery suites, a strength and conditioning centre and high-end equipment used by elite professionals.
Conditioning coach Larry Wade, who has worked with world champions such as Shawn Porter and Badou Jack, oversees his physical work.
Head trainer Theo Chambers, who learned his craft at Detroit’s famed Kronk Gym, runs technical sessions alongside former world title challenger J’Leon Love.
Sparring has matched the investment. Former cruiserweight world champion Lawrence Okolie spent time with Paul and, according to the Londoner’s trainer Gallagher, returned “impressed by how much better Paul was than people think”.
Cuban heavyweight Frank Sanchez and American puncher Jared Anderson are also sparring partners.
American heavyweight Cassius Chaney – who shared 13 rounds with him early in camp – says the work was real.
“The guys haven’t taken it easy on him,” he says.
“Everything is intact. From the first day to the second day of sparring, Jake has definitely got better.”
Paul himself points to tangible progress.
He cites improvements in “footwork, defence, staying calm on fight night”, adding that experience has allowed him to put combinations, body work and feints together more naturally.