Former world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua ended the much-hyped and widely criticized crossover bout against YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul with a sixth-round knockout at the Kaseya Center in Miami on Friday night.
The Netflix-backed contest, reportedly worth a combined purse of about $184 million for both fighters, had sparked widespread concern within the boxing community before the opening bell, with critics warning of the vast disparity in size, experience, and pedigree between the two men. Joshua, a two-time heavyweight world champion and Olympic gold medallist, entered the ring as the overwhelming favourite against Paul, whose boxing résumé has largely been built on novelty bouts.
Despite expectations of an early finish, Joshua endured a frustrating start and struggled to impose himself immediately in what became a disjointed eight-round contest. Paul repeatedly dropped to the canvas, often entangling himself around Joshua’s legs, turning stretches of the fight into near farce. At one point, referee Christopher Young publicly scolded both fighters in the fourth round, telling them: “The fans did not pay to see this crap.”
As the rounds wore on, however, Joshua’s superior size, strength, and power began to tell. The 36-year-old Briton, standing 6ft 6in, increased the tempo and found his range as Paul visibly tired. After flooring the American twice in the fifth round, Joshua pressed his advantage decisively in the sixth.
Backing the 28-year-old Paul into a corner, Joshua set him up with a thudding left before delivering a crushing right hand to the chin that sent Paul crashing to the canvas, prompting the referee to wave off the fight.
Reflecting on the bout afterwards, Joshua admitted the performance had not been flawless but said the objective had been achieved.
“It wasn’t the best performance,” Joshua said. “But the end goal was to get Jake Paul, pin him down, and hurt him. That was the request leading up, and that was on my mind. It took a bit longer than expected, but the right hand finally found its destination.”
Joshua also offered words of praise for Paul’s resilience, acknowledging his opponent’s willingness to keep getting back to his feet.
“I want to give him his props — he got up time and time again,” Joshua said. “It was difficult in there for him, but he kept on trying to find a way. It takes a real man to do that.”
Paul, whose mouth was bloodied from the final exchange, suggested he may have suffered a broken jaw but remained upbeat about his display.
“That was fun. I gave it my all,” Paul said. “I had a blast. I think my jaw is broken, by the way. But Anthony’s one of the best to ever do it. I’m going to come back and get a world championship.”
He added that fatigue and Joshua’s physical strength proved decisive. “I just got tired, to be honest. It was so much handling his weight. With better cardio, I could have kept it up. But he hits really hard.”
The bout came just over a year after Paul’s heavily criticised exhibition against a 58-year-old Mike Tyson, another Netflix spectacle that drew sharp rebukes from boxing purists. While many had predicted a first- or second-round knockout by Joshua, Paul managed to survive longer by staying on the fringes of range and avoiding sustained exchanges.
Statistics underscored Joshua’s dominance, with the Briton landing 48 of 146 punches thrown, compared to Paul’s 16 landed shots over the course of the fight.
Joshua, who was making his first appearance in 15 months, said the contest served as a useful return to the ring as he now eyes a lucrative all-British showdown with fellow former world champion Tyson Fury.
“We shook off the cobwebs and I can’t wait to roll into 2026,” Joshua said. “And if Tyson Fury is as serious as he thinks he is, let’s put on some gloves and fight.”
