Jake Paul clearly knows how to have a good time – even if his idea of one seems a bit unhinged.
Paul on Friday took his best shot at two-time former unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua, who wore down and splattered the former Disney child actor and current YouTuber in a sixth-round stoppage.
Speaking of unhinged, it was a monster right hand from Joshua that not only punctuated the combination that ended the fight but also apparently broke Paul’s jaw.
“I'm feeling good,” Paul, 12-2 (7 KOs), said in the ring afterward. “That was fun. I love this sport. I gave it my all. It's fucking crazy. I had a blast.
“Man, I've already won in every single thing in life – my family, my beautiful fiance. This sport has helped me so much in my life. I think my jaw is broken, by the way.”
Paul then paused to spit a mouthful of blood down his beard, gently rubbing his jawline where Joshua’s right hand had detonated.
“Anthony's a great fighter, and I got my ass beat, but that's what this sport's about,” Paul said. “I'm coming back and I’ll keep on winning.”
Paul never had even a puncher’s chance against Joshua, 29-4 (26 KOs), the former Olympic gold medalist and heavyweight king who stalked his prey around the ring Saturday and was unfazed even when Paul – a natural cruiserweight – landed several solid blows during the course of the fight. Paul was running out of gas halfway through the scheduled eight-round fight, as his brisk circling around the ring turned into fumbling attempts to tie up that repeatedly left him in a heap at Joshua’s feet.
“I just got tired, to be honest,” Paul said. “Like, it was just so much handling his weight. I think if I could have had better cardio, I think I could have kept it up and kept fighting. But he did amazing. He hits really hard, and I just did my best.”
Neither the loss nor the punishment he absorbed seemed to dull Paul’s enthusiasm for future fights. He said he plans to take “a little break” before returning to the ring – this time against size-appropriate competition.
“Oh yeah, for sure,” he said. “We'll heal the broken jaw, come back and fight people my weight, go for the cruiserweight world title.
“I love this shit, and I'll come back and get a world championship belt at some point.”
Jason Langendorf is the former Boxing Editor of ESPN.com, was a contributor to Ringside Seat and the Queensberry Rules, and has written about boxing for Vice, The Guardian, Sun-Times and other publications. A member of the Boxing Writers Association of America, he can be found at LinkedIn and followed on X and Bluesky.
