Anthony Joshua recently explained accepting a fight against Jake Paul and outlined the importance of "marketability" in the sport. Joshua and Paul are set to throw down in a professional heavyweight contest on Dec. 19 at the Kaseya Center in Miami.Joshua is an established boxer, a former two-time unified heavyweight world champion, and Olympic gold medalist. Meanwhile, Paul has made waves in the boxing world since his professional debut against AnEnsonGib in January 2020 and has recorded wins over high-profile combat sports personalities like Anderson Silva, Nate Diaz, Mike Perry, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., and Mike Tyson.While Paul is often criticized for facing much older opponents, many have lauded the former Disney star for helping bring more eyeballs to the sport. It appears the YouTuber-turned-boxer's ability to market himself is what appealed to Joshua.In a recent interview, the Englishman explained why accepting a fight against Paul made sense to him. He said:"You've got ability, and you have marketability in boxing. Now, unfortunately, how it goes is that you can have the two best fighters with the best ability, but they don't have marketability, so they won't be able to showcase their talent to the world because broadcasts aren't interested and fans aren't interested. So what we need to do is bring the marketability into the ability realm."He continued:"You need to get people to follow you, so by the time you're a champion, everyone is ready to buy a ticket. 'I want to see this guy. He's in town.' That's why we need to bring the marketability aspect. I looked at it and said, 'Wow. This is a great opportunity to showcase myself to the whole world.'" [H/t: MMA Junkie] View this post on Instagram Instagram PostAnthony Joshua gets honest about his mindset ahead of Jake Paul challengeAnthony Joshua isn't overlooking Jake Paul at all. In the same interview, the Englishman made it clear that he's focused on his own abilities and isn't concerned about what Paul is capable of doing in the squared circle:"I don't want to focus on it being about Jake, 'Oh, Jake is small, so that makes me confident. Jake is this, so that makes me confident.' I just focused on myself. I'm confident in myself. He could be 10 feet, and I'm confident in myself. It's not about how he is. I've got a good tea. I've been through ups and downs. I've stood the test of time. I'm passionate. I'm hungry, and I'm here to fight my heart out. I'm confident."