Jake Paul Out-Earns Dwayne Johnson’s Biggest Hollywood Payday — Even in Defeat

Jake Paul just got flattened by Anthony Joshua, and somehow that was the least wild thing about the night. The weirder part: the money. We are talking staggering, blink-twice numbers that make A-list movie paychecks look quaint.

The payday that stole the show

Paul lasted 989 seconds in the ring on December 19, 2025. That is about 16 minutes and 29 seconds. Marca says he walked with $92 million for that stretch. The Desert Sun puts the whole purse at $184 million, split evenly, which means Joshua also banked $92 million. If you are wondering whether the pot was even bigger, Paul teased a larger figure a month before the fight. On November 17, he posted this on X:

Stop asking me. $267 Million.

So, did the event swell to $267 million overall? Was he trolling? The number is out there because he put it there, and it has been hanging over the discourse since.

Yep, that is more than blockbuster star money

For context: Dwayne Johnson's biggest single-film paycheck to date is reportedly $50 million for Red One (2023), per Celebrity Net Worth. That beats his $22.5 million for Black Adam, but it still is barely half of what Paul and Joshua each made for one night of boxing.

The fight itself

Fans were skeptical going in, mostly because of the size gap and Joshua's deep pro experience. Once the bell rang, reality set in. Joshua knocked Paul out in Round 6.

Paul said afterward:

I think my jaw is broken by the way. It is definitely broke.

He followed that up on X with a photo and this bit of defiance:

Double broken jaw. Give me Canelo in 10 days.

And during the Netflix broadcast, he kept it blunt while giving Joshua his due:

Anthony's a great fighter. I got my a*s beat, but that's what this sport's about. I'm going to come back and keep on winning.

[It was] a nice little a*s-whoopin' from one of the best to ever do it. I love this s*it and I'm going to come back and get a world championship belt at some point.

How the money stacks up

• Dwayne Johnson reported salaries (per Celebrity Net Worth): Red One - $50 million; Red Notice - $23.5 million; Jumanji: The Next Level - $23.5 million; Black Adam - $22.5 million; Jungle Cruise - $22 million; Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw - $20 million; Skyscraper - $20 million; Walking Tall - $15 million.
• Other monster actor paydays for a single film, including profits and specialized deals (per Yahoo): Tom Cruise, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol - $75 million; Robert Downey Jr., Avengers: Infinity War - $75 million; Sandra Bullock, Gravity - $70 million; Johnny Depp, Alice in Wonderland - $68 million; Harrison Ford, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - $65 million.
• Jake Paul fight earnings, reported: Mike Tyson event purse was $80 million, which would put Paul at $40 million; Nate Robinson - $1.2 million; Tyron Woodley - $2 million; Anderson Silva - $1.5 million; Tommy Fury - $3.2 million, not counting a 65% share of the PPV upside.

So what do we do with all that?

Whether you buy the $184 million purse or the $267 million figure Paul tossed out, the headline writes itself: a YouTuber-turned-boxer just out-earned the Rock's biggest movie paycheck in under 17 minutes. That is the kind of industry math that makes people crazy, but it is also exactly why these crossover fights keep happening.

If Paul really is chasing a belt next, who makes sense for him after this? Toss me your most chaotic matchmaking idea.