Former heavyweight champion beats social-media-star-turned fighter with a sixth-round knockout in Miami.
Former world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua knocked out YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul in their controversial Netflix-backed bout in Miami.
Two-time world champion Joshua made hard work of defeating his vastly less experienced opponent on Friday night, but finally made his superior size and power count in the later stages of the eight-round fight.
A mediocre contest at the Kaseya Center – with the two men reportedly splitting a mammoth purse of $184m – descended into farce at times, with Paul repeatedly dropping to the canvas and grappling at Joshua’s legs.
At one stage even referee Christopher Young appeared to be losing patience, warning the fighters in the fourth round: “The fans did not pay to see this crap.”
As Paul tired, Joshua finally began to land punches with more regularity and after knocking down the American twice in the fifth round the end came swiftly in the sixth.
Joshua backed the 28-year-old into a corner and after teeing up Paul with a crunching left, delivered the knockout blow with a right to the chin that sent his opponent crashing to the canvas.
“It wasn’t the best performance,” Joshua, 36, admitted afterwards. “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 meanwhile praised Paul for lasting into the later rounds.
“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, meanwhile, his mouth bloodied from Joshua’s final assault, said he believed his jaw had been broken – but was satisfied with his performance.
“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 so. I’m gonna come back and get a world championship.
“I just got tired to be honest – like it was so much handling his weight. I think with better cardio I could have kept it up and kept on fighting. But he hits really hard.”
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