Anthony Joshua had to overcome some early frustrations before knocking out Jake Paul in the sixth round on Friday night at Kaseya Center in Miami.
Joshua, a two-time heavyweight champion, dropped the former YouTuber four times before referee Chris Young reached the count of 10 at the 1-minute, 31-second mark of their eight-round scheduled fight.
The win was the first for Joshua since his knockout victory over former UFC champion Francis Ngannou in 2024 and first fight since his knockout loss to Daniel Dubois 15 months ago.
Joshua, 29-4 (26 KOs), gave respect to Paul afterwards, saying he took his medicine like a warrior, repeatedly getting off the canvas despite the overwhelming odds.
“It wasn’t the best performance,” said Joshua, of Watford, England. “The end goal was to get Jake Paul, pin him down and hurt him. It took a bit longer than expected, but the right hand finally found its destination.”
Paul, now 12-2 (7 KOs), lost for the first time since his 2023 split decision defeat to Tommy Fury, snapping a six-fight winning streak.
Paul, who was giving up 27lbs to the much taller Joshua, was spitting blood in the post-fight interview and suggested that he had a broken jaw. He says that, despite the loss, he wants to return to the sport as a cruiserweight and eventually challenge for a world title.
“I just got tired, to be honest,” said the 28-year-old Paul, a native of Ohio now living in Puerto Rico. “It was just so much handling his weight. I think if I could have had better cardio, I would have kept it up and kept on fighting. He did amazing. He hits really hard, and I did my personal best.
“I got my ass beat, but that’s what this sport is about. I’ma come back and keep winning.”
Paul started out the fight on his bicycle, moving laterally in an attempt to stay out of range of Joshua’s power. He opened up briefly with an overhand right that didn’t land cleanly, but Joshua did more damage with a straight right to Paul’s chest and a jab to the midsection that sent Paul across the ring.
Joshua came out more aggressively in the second round, but he found it tougher to land on an opponent who wasn’t attempting to win rounds. Paul continued his four-corners-offense strategy in the third, but he began looking gassed as a result of his excessive movement.
Paul finally began to throw power shots in the fourth, landing an overhand right to no effect while Joshua continued to press and land jabs. Paul repeatedly hit the canvas, though it seemed to be more as a defensive tactic than because of any rough tactics from Joshua. The referee gave Paul several minutes to recover after one of several trips resulted in Joshua landing awkwardly on his midsection. The delay tactics began to infuriate the crowd, which booed vociferously.
Even with the reprieve, it was clear that the sand was running out of Paul’s hourglass.
With his gas tank on empty and any overhand rights he landed being shrugged off, Paul began to look hopeless.
The first knockdown, which happened midway through the fifth, was set up by a Joshua left hook to the body, followed by a less-clear right hand to the head. Paul hit the canvas a second time 30 seconds later from a cleaner right hand to the head.
Despite the beating he was taking, Paul came out for the sixth round – and was promptly sent back down by another right hand in his own corner. Paul beat the count but wore a look of defeat as the referee asked if he wanted to continue.
When the action resumed, Joshua rocked Paul into the corner with a hook, then pinned him into the corner with a jab to the chest before finishing him with a right hand to the head. Paul made it to his feet at the count of 11 before being sat down on his stool, as is protocol for a knockout victim.
Paul was given credited for landing just 16 total punches on 56 attempts, which was an average of just under ten punches thrown per round. Joshua, the aggressor throughout, landed 48 of 146 attempts.
Ryan Songalia is a reporter and editor for BoxingScene.com and has written for ESPN, the New York Daily News, Rappler, The Guardian, Vice and The Ring magazine. He holds a Master’s degree in Journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at ryansongalia@gmail.com or on Twitter at @ryansongalia.
