Boxing

Anthony Joshua’s former sparring partner offers assist to Jake Paul

Published

11 months ago

November 18, 2025

British heavyweight fighter Lawrence Okolie has offered to assist Jake Paul prepare for his fight with Anthony Joshua and spar with the YouTuber-turned-boxer.

The Paul-Joshua fight was announced on Monday, a professional, eight-round fight wearing 10-ounce gloves that will take place in Miami. This will be Joshua’s first fight since September 2024 and a fifth-round knockout defeat to Daniel Dubois.

Former cruiserweight champion Okolie (22-1, 16 KO) is preparing for his own fight, which will take place on December 19 in Nigeria, the same evening as Paul-Joshua. This will be his first fight since July, when he tore his bicep in the first round.

Okolie is at a training camp in Dubai, but he offered to assist Paul with sparring, mainly out of curiosity. He also doesn’t want the inexperienced boxer to get seriously injured.

“I want to assist Jake Paul, give him a chance. I want to go to Puerto Rico. The only thing I don’t want to happen to him is him getting completely destroyed in the round or whatever if AJ turns it on,” Okolie said.

“I want him to have a decent sense of what it’s like to be up there with a world-class heavyweight before a fight.

“I have a fight coming up, but I’m going to be out for a few weeks. I want to know what allowed Jake Paul to say to himself, ‘I’m going to go up there with this 250-pound muscle guy from England, this large guy, Olympic gold, former two-time world heavyweight champion, in front of millions of fans on Netflix.’

– I need to know. Maybe he has a secret that I don’t know about.

Okolie has sparred with Joshua before, but speaking on Tuesday, he did not rule out the possibility that the fight would last longer than a few rounds, as is widely expected.

“You know what. I’m not going to sit here and pretend it’s not some crazy difference in size or skill or whatever. But you know what, crazier things have happened. We’ll see,” Okolie said.

“From what I heard from AJ, I don’t think he’s going to hit him with a huge right hand and end the fight in 30 seconds.

“But I think if Jake Paul starts touching him, he’ll be fine.” [Joshua knockout].

“You know, when you’re sparring with someone who’s not at your level, you can judge how much to put into your shots and you’ll be fine. [box].

“He hasn’t been in the ring for a while, maybe he’ll employ this as practice. If Jake Paul catches him and doesn’t take him out the first time, he’s going to hit him challenging and I think that’s where things will get intriguing.”

“But crazier things have happened, I don’t know.”

Boxing

Sebastian Fundora vs Ermal Hadribeaj: Live Round-by-Round Updates and Results

Published

2 hours ago

October 17, 2026

The Punch Junkie™ News

Sebastian Fundora vs Ermal Hadribeaj: Live Round-by-Round Updates and Results

Sebastian Fundora will return to action tonight, defending his WBC super welterweight title against Ermal Hadribaj in a main event that will air live on TNT as well as stream on DAZN.

Fundora has staked his claim as the top dog at 154 lbs right now, though there are other, potentially tougher challenges than Hadribeaj, but the challenger has his chance tonight, and he’ll look to make it count.

UPDATE (2:35 pm ET): The fight between Brandon Figueroa and Tomoki Kameda has been officially canceled. Figueroa lost his WBA featherweight title on the scales yesterday, then fell ill overnight.

Wil Esco will lead the live coverage this evening, with live results and updates for the two main card undercard bouts, then round-by-round results and updates for the main event. Join us!

How to Watch Fundora vs Hadribeaj

Streaming: DAZN (subscription)

Location: The Cosmopolitan – Las Vegas, NV, USA

Fundora vs Hadribeaj full card lineup

Boxing

Sebastian Fundora vs Ermal Hadribeaj: Start Time and Live Results

Published

3 hours ago

October 17, 2026

The Punch Junkie™ News

"Sebastian Fundora vs Ermal Hadribeaj: Start Time and Live Results"

Sebastian Fundora defends his WBC super welterweight title against Ermal Hadribeaj on Saturday, October 17, 2026, at The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, with the card starting at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT / 1 a.m. BST Sunday. TNT and DAZN broadcast the fight live.

Updated Oct 14, 2026, 4:34 am EDT

FIGHT DAY! Sebastian Fundora vs Ermal Hadribeaj

Sebastian Fundora

Ermal Hadribaj

Date: Saturday, October 17, 2026
Venue: The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan, Las Vegas
Card starts: 8:00 pm EDT / 1:00 am BST (Sun, Oct 18 in the UK)
Expected ring walks: 11:00 pm EDT / 4:00 am BST (Sun, Oct 18 in the UK)
Weight class: super welterweight
Scheduled distance: 12 rounds

Live results will appear here on fight night.

Sebastian Fundora vs Ermal Hadribeaj
WBC super welterweight title.

Brandon Figueroa vs. Tomoki Kameda bout is now off after Figueroa fell ill overnight.

Armando Reséndiz vs Koen Mazoudier
Super middleweight, 10 rounds.

Marco Romero vs Braulio Ferreira
Super middleweight, eight rounds.

Watch Daniel Dubois vs Fabio Wardley 2 on DAZN

About the author

Boxing 24/7 Wire

Boxing247.com is an independent boxing news publication covering the sport since 2001. It provides original reporting, fight analysis, schedules, results, and informed coverage of major fighters and events worldwide, backed by more than 25 years of professional boxing journalism.

Boxing

Daniel Dubois vs. Fabio Wardley Rematch: Live Results and Fight Updates

Published

5 hours ago

October 17, 2026

The Punch Junkie™ News

Daniel Dubois vs. Fabio Wardley Rematch: Live Results and Fight Updates

By Boxing News 24 Desk – 10/17/2026 – Comments

Dubois defends his WBO heavyweight title against Wardley on DAZN PPV at The O2 Arena in London on Saturday, October 17.

Fabio Wardley gets another crack at Daniel Dubois five months after dropping him twice but losing their first fight. Dubois recovered to stop Wardley in the 11th round in Manchester.

UPCOMING

Daniel Dubois vs. Fabio Wardley

2026-10-17 · 14:00 ET / 7:00 PM UK · O2 Arena, London · Live on DAZN

Daniel Dubois0

AFTER0ROUNDS

Fabio Wardley0

ROUNDDaniel DuboisFabio Wardley

Wardley returns as the challenger. Dubois makes his first defence against the heavyweight he dethroned in May, with DAZN PPV and DAZN Ultimate Tier carrying the rematch.

Start Time and Ring Walks

Coverage starts at 7 p.m. BST / 2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT.

Dubois and Wardley are expected to make their ring walks at approximately 10:30 pm BST / 5:30 pm ET / 2:30 pm PT. All times fall on Saturday, October 17.

DAZN PPV Price

The standalone PPV costs £24.99 in the UK and $59.99 in the USincluding the undercard and main event.

DAZN Ultimate Tier subscribers receive the event without a separate PPV purchase.

Full Fight Card, Weigh-In Results and Expected Times

Daniel Dubois vs Fabio Wardley

WBO heavyweight title

Dubois: 253.9 lbs (115.17 kg) | Wardley: 248.3 lbs (112.63 kg)

Expected ring walks: 10:30 pm BST / 5:30 pm ET / 2:30 pm PT

Louie O’Doherty vs Michael Gomez Jr.

British and Commonwealth lightweight titles

O’Doherty: 134.12 lbs (60.84 kg) | Gomez Jr.: 134.3 lbs (60.92 kg)

Approximate start: 9:30 pm BST / 4:30 pm ET / 1:30 pm PT

Adam Olaniyan vs Dan Garber

Heavyweight

Olaniyan: 250.15 lbs (113.47 kg) | Garber: 223.15 lbs (101.22 kg)

Approximate start: 9:10 pm BST / 4:10 pm ET / 1:10 pm PT

Bakhodir Jalolov vs Solomon Dacres

Heavyweight

Jalolov: 255.12 lbs (115.72 kg) | Dacres: 242.9 lbs (110.18 kg)

Approximate start: 8:10 pm BST / 3:10 pm ET / 12:10 pm PT

Nelson Birchall vs Levi Gilles

Approximate start: 7:10 pm BST / 2:10 pm ET / 11:10 am PT

Image: Daniel Dubois vs. Fabio Wardley Rematch Live Results and Fight Updates

Watch Daniel Dubois vs Fabio Wardley 2 on DAZN

About the author

Boxing News 24 Desk

BoxingNews24.com has delivered independent boxing coverage since 2007, including original news, fight analysis, schedules, and results. Our experienced boxing writers cover major fighters and events worldwide, with published content reviewed by editors for accuracy.