In a result that felt like a return to boxing's natural order, Anthony Joshua emphatically halted the ring experiment of Jake Paul with a sixth-round knockout victory on Friday night at the Kaseya Center in Miami.
A Mismatch Resolved
The scheduled eight-round heavyweight bout, streamed to Netflix's vast global audience of roughly 300 million subscribers, was stopped at the 1:31 mark of the sixth round. Referee Chris Young waved off the contest after Paul hit the canvas for a final time, unable to beat the count following a sustained assault from the former two-time unified world champion.
From the opening bell, the contest's trajectory was clear. Joshua, 36, commanded the centre of the ring while the 28-year-old Paul, a significant 5-1 underdog, relied on lateral movement and frequent clinching. The early rounds were tentative, drawing scattered boos from the Miami crowd as Joshua patiently cut off the ring and Paul offered little offensive ambition.
Dominance and Knockdowns
The fight shifted decisively in the third round when a Joshua right hand to the body visibly hurt Paul. The spectacle then descended towards farce in the fourth. Paul went down claiming a low blow, prompting a lengthy stoppage, and then hit the deck twice more from exhaustion, buying precious recovery time without a point deduction from the referee.
The fifth round saw the contest cross from mismatch into embarrassment. Joshua scored two clean knockdowns with right hands, trapping a wilting Paul in the corner and unloading unanswered shots. Somehow, the social media star survived to hear the bell.
The end was merciful and came early in the sixth. Paul went down almost immediately, rose on unsteady legs, and then collapsed again under a barrage of punches, prompting the referee's intervention.
Post-Fight Reactions and Future Plans
In his post-fight interview, Joshua was respectful but clear about the hierarchy the night had reinforced. "It wasn't the best performance," he admitted. "The end goal was to get Jake Paul, pin him down and hurt him... He came up against a real fighter tonight." He praised Paul's durability in getting up repeatedly but swiftly turned his attention to the elite level, issuing a direct call-out to Tyson Fury. "Put down the Twitter fingers and put on some gloves," Joshua challenged. "Let's see you in the ring and talk with your fists."
For his part, a bruised but remarkably upbeat Jake Paul insisted he had "a blast" despite the punishment. "I love this sport. I gave it my all," Paul stated. "Anthony's a great fighter. I got my ass beat, but that's what this sport's about." He even joked that his jaw might be broken, vowing, "I love this shit and I'm going to come back."
The event underscored a modern boxing dichotomy. While Paul possesses an unparalleled ability to generate attention and revenue for the sport, the fight itself laid bare the stark physical and technical limits he faces against a genuine world-class heavyweight like Anthony Joshua. For Joshua, the win served as a forceful rebound from his September 2024 loss to Daniel Dubois and a stark reminder of the elemental power that still governs the ring.
