Anthony Joshua knocked out Jake Paul within the sixth spherical of their boxing combat on Friday evening at Kaseya Heart in Miami.
The previous unified world heavyweight champion confirmed persistence early, ready for his alternatives a lot to the dismay of the gang, however stepped up his aggressiveness because the bout went on. After a fifth spherical that noticed two knockdowns of Paul, Joshua completed him one spherical later with a brutal straight proper.
It was the primary knockout loss in Paul’s profession.
“It wasn’t one of the best efficiency,” Joshua informed Netflix’s Ariel Helwani within the ring. “I needed to pin him down and damage him. It took me longer than I anticipated. Jake Paul did rather well and he deserves his props. It takes an actual man to do this and he deserves respect for attempting and attempting and attempting. However he got here up in opposition to an actual fighter tonight.”
Joshua, 36, entered the Netflix bout as a heavy betting favourite primarily based on his expertise and ability set. The Brit (29-4 with 26 KOs) is taken into account among the finest boxers of his era with an Olympic gold medal and wins over the likes of Wladimir Klitschko, Andy Ruiz Jr., Dillian Whyte and Alexander Povetkin.
Joshua rebounded from a loss final 12 months to fellow British heavyweight Daniel Dubois. He’s anticipated to face one other, Tyson Fury, in 2026 in keeping with a number of stories.
“I shook off the cobwebs tonight,” Joshua mentioned. “And if Tyson Fury is severe, and if he desires to shake off his Twitter fingers and decide up some gloves, he ought to combat me. Let’s see how severe he’s.”
Paul, a social media star-turned boxer, suffered his first defeat since dropping a break up choice to Tommy Fury in February 2023. He beforehand gained six straight, together with together with victories in opposition to Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Mike Tyson.
Although Paul has quieted early critics with spectacular boxing ability over a brief time period — he solely turned knowledgeable in 2020 — Joshua was a significant step up in competitors. Most of Paul’s opponents up to now have been former MMA fighters or growing old boxers like Tyson, who got here out of retirement to combat Paul when he was 58 years previous.
“Anthony is a superb fighter,” Paul mentioned postfight to Helwani. “I obtained my ass beat however that’s what this sport is all about. This sport has helped me a lot — I believe my jaw is damaged, by the way in which.”
