Anthony Joshua knocked out Jake Paul in the sixth round of a barely-watchable fight tonight from Miami, which featured four knockdowns overall from Joshua, who all the same probably looked the least effective
he ever has as a professional.
Paul (13-2, 7 KO) was on the run from the opening bell, which was in all reality the right idea. The two were working in an enormous, 22’ x 22’ ring, which gave the smaller Paul the room to move around and avoid sitting in range of the more experienced, dangerous ex-heavyweight champ.
But it also tired Paul out, and by the fourth round, the fight was borderline comical in its tempo, as a tired Paul repeatedly lunged into Joshua (29-4, 25 KO) to the point it looked like he was trying to bait fouls. That didn’t work out, and eventually he was getting clipped and dropped until referee Chris Young stopped the fight at 1:31 of round six.
What next after a poor performance from Anthony Joshua?
Despite the knockdowns and the victory, it’s hard to take much serious good from this if you’re Team Joshua. There were times you could easily believe he was holding back. He looked nothing like the guy who marched into his 2024 fight with Francis Ngannou and made clear that the ex-UFC champ did not belong in a boxing ring with him.
Paul made that tough, of course, by staying on his bike, but someone with Joshua’s experience and pedigree, and the fact that he’s not ancient at 36 years of age, should have done better than he did in this fight. Calling Paul truly “competitive” would be a stretch, but if there’s a moral victory to be had from this fight, it would have to go to him, simply for lasting into the sixth round. A lot of AJ opponents haven’t done that.
“It wasn’t the best performance,” Joshua admitted. “The end goal was to get Jake Paul, pin him down, and hurt him. That’s what was on my mind. It took a bit longer than expected, but the right hand finally found the destination.”
He also gave Paul some respect, saying, “Jake Paul has done really well tonight. I want to give him his props. He got up time and time again. It was difficult in there for him but he kept on trying to find a way. It takes a real man to do that. We have to give Jake his respect for trying and trying and trying. But he came up against a real fighter tonight that’s had a 15-month layoff. We shook off the cobwebs.”
What is in Jake Paul’s boxing future?
It is highly unlikely that Paul, 28, is going to become a legitimate, serious boxing champion. He will, of course, disagree with that assessment. He’s not big enough to fight top-level heavyweights and cruiserweight lacks money names while also featuring dangerous potential opposition if he truly wants to try to win a world title.
Do not count out the idea of Jake Paul getting another one of his long-stated goals, though. Canelo Alvarez is at the end of his career, has nothing more legitimate he can achieve that he hasn’t already done, and the money could be calling. Jake’s naturally bigger than Canelo and wouldn’t be expected to win. In a sense, other than the risk that always goes into being in a boxing match, it could be a no-lose situation for Jake Paul at this point.
Jake vs Joshua highlights
Jake vs Joshua undercard results
Alycia Baumgardner successfully defended her WBA, IBF, and WBO super featherweight titles by unanimous decision over Leila Beaudoin. Baumgardner (17-1, 7 KO) was happy with her performance and by going the distance over 12, three-minute rounds, an insistence of hers that saw her vacate the WBC title recently and give up an undisputed claim. Baumgardner got the win on official scores of 117-110, 117-110, and 118-109.
Baumgardner made a bit of a call-out toward Caroline Dubois, who had earlier in the night retained her WBC lightweight belt with a decision win over Camilla Panatta. Both are under contract to Most Valuable Promotions, so it could be doable. Dubois won on scores of 99-90 from all three judges.
In another women’s title fight, Yokasta Valle kept her WBC minimumweight belt, beating Yadira Bustillos via majority decision. Judges had one card even, 95-95, but the other two were clear for Valle, 97-93 and 98-92.
50-year-old combat sports legend Anderson Silva stopped Tyron Woodley, 43, in a meeting of aged former MMA stars, and super featherweight Jahmal Harvey improved to 2-0 with a six-round decision victory over Kevin Cervantes.
Here’s Silva’s stoppage of Woodley:
