Joshua

MIAMI — Anthony Joshua knocked out Jake Paul in the sixth round of their heavyweight fight Friday night.

The two-time heavyweight champion displayed why he is one of the sport’s elite punchers when he dropped the fading Paul twice in the fifth round.

Sensing the YouTuber was finished, Joshua rocked him with a right uppercut early in the sixth. The native of England then floored Paul with a combination to the head.

Although Paul (12-2) reached his feet again, Joshua (29-4, 26 knockouts) finally crushed Paul’s upset dream when he dropped him a fourth time with a right to the head. Referee Christopher Young counted Paul out at 1:31 of the round in front of a capacity crowd of 19,600 at the Kaseya Center.

Anthony Joshua punches Jake Paul during their heavyweight boxing match Friday.

(Lynne Sladky / Associated Press)

With the victory, Joshua now can angle to reclaim the heavyweight title he lost against Oleksandr Usyk. Joshua also has talked about a long-discussed match with countryman and former champion Tyson Fury. However, Fury is retired following consecutive losses to Usyk last year.

It was Joshua’s first bout since Daniel Dubois knocked him out in five rounds in September 2024.

Joshua methodically established pace against Paul from the opening round as neither fighter engaged early. Midway through the round, Paul threw an overhand right that Joshua blocked with his glove. In the closing seconds Joshua scored with a right to the head near the ropes.

In the second, Joshua began utilizing his six-inch reach advantage by leading with a left jab.

Jake Paul falls on the canvas after being hit by Anthony Joshua during their heavyweight fight Friday.

(Lynne Sladky / Associated Press)

Paul scored with a short right to the head early in the fourth. Later in the round Paul twice fell to the canvas awkwardly as he again attempted to cut distance during close exchanges

Paul weighed 216 pounds and Joshua weighed 243 for the bout.

The 28-year-old Paul, who began his career in January 2020, originally targeted an exhibition in Miami with lightweight champion Gervonta Davis last month. But Davis encountered legal problems that scrapped the event. Paul quickly pivoted and landed the bout against Joshua in the same venue.

Celebrities in the crowd included golf champion Rory McIlroy, New York Mets slugger Juan Soto, Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy and retired NFL receivers Michael Irvin and Brandon Marshall.

In an undercard bout between retired UFC champions, 50-year-old Anderson Silva scored a second-round technical knockout of Tyron Woodley.

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.”

The bout was carried live to ‌Netflix’s approximately 300 million subscribers.

Friday’s made-for-streaming contest, which came just over a year after Paul had fought a 58-year-old Mike Tyson in a much-derided Netflix fight, had triggered alarm across boxing given the disparity in size and experience between the two men.

Yet the devastating first or second round knockout by Joshua that most had predicted failed to materialise as Paul scrambled desperately to stay outside of the 2012 Olympic champion’s range.

Joshua, fighting for the first time in 15 months, always looked the more threatening fighter though, landing 48 of 146 punches thrown compared to Paul’s meagre total of 16 punches landed.

British heavyweight Anthony Joshua needed six rounds to stop boxing novice Jake Paul, who spent much of the contest in survival mode in one of the most striking mismatches in the sport’s history.

Joshua, a two-time world champion, cut an increasingly frustrated figure as Paul danced around the ring for long spells, refusing to engage, before Joshua finally imposed himself by knocking down the YouTuber-turned-boxer twice in the fifth round.

Paul was down again in the sixth, before Joshua landed a powerful and clean right hand that brought a surreal night to an abrupt conclusion at Miami’s Kaseya Center.

The American did not beat the count, although there was palpable relief inside the arena when he was able to rise to his feet and leave the ring without assistance.

Favourite Anthony Joshua tips the scales more than 12 kilos heavier than YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul at weigh-in.

Former heavyweight world champion Anthony Joshua easily made weight ahead of his fight against social media boxing disruptor Jake Paul at Thursday’s official weigh-in in Miami.

Joshua, who under the rules of the fight, couldn’t weigh more than 245 pounds (111kg), tipped the scales at 243.4 pounds (110kg).

Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs), who usually fights in the heavyweight classification at about 250 pounds (11kg), was the lightest he has been since he dropped to 240 pounds (109kg) for his first heavyweight title fight against Oleksandr Usyk on September 25, 2021.

Paul (12-1, 7 KOs) weighed in at a bulky 216 pounds (98kg) – but still more than two stones, or 12.7 kilogrammes, less than the Briton, who is 13 centimetres taller at 1.98m (Six feet, six inches).

It was just the second time in his professional career that the American weighed in above his usual cruiserweight limit of 91kg, or 200 pounds.

After the weigh-in, Paul, who excitedly took to the stage first and jeered up the crowd, claimed Joshua was nervous heading into the fight and said he would “shock the world” on Friday.

“I smell fear. I see something in his eyes, I truly do,” Paul said.

“The pressure is on him. I’m fighting free. I’ve already won. This is a lose-lose situation for him. I’ve got him right where I want him.”

Joshua, who remained composed throughout the weigh-in, other than when he pushed Paul’s fist away from his face and exclaimed “don’t touch me” during the promotional stare off, said his talent would prevail against the smaller, less experienced boxer.

“I’ll just outclass this kid. I’m a serious fighter. That’s the difference. I’m a serious, serious fighter,” the 2012 Olympic champion said.

The fight will take place at Miami’s Kaseya Center at 10:30pm on Friday (03:30 GMT Saturday).

The contest is an eight-round sanctioned bout with 10-ounce gloves to be used.

Joshua is returning to the ring for the first time since his knockout defeat to fellow Briton Daniel Dubois in September 2024.

In the weigh-in for the co-main event, holder Alycia Baumgardner came in at 129.2 pounds (58.6kg) while challenger Leila Beaudoin came in at 130 pounds (58.9kg) ahead of their unified junior lightweight title bout.

Baumgardner hasn’t been beaten since 2018 and is the strong favourite to retain her titles.

A low-key, media-only weigh-in took place on Thursday morning at the Fontainebleau hotel, before a ceremonial weigh-in later in the day at the Fillmore Miami Beach.

Heavyweights do not usually have to make weight, but Joshua was required to come in under 17st 7lb (111kg) – reflecting the gulf in experience between the fighters.

He tipped the scales at 17st 5lb (110kg), with Paul weighing 15st 7lb (98kg).

At the official weigh-in earlier, Paul stepped on the scales calmly before breaking into a brief, animated and somewhat confusing tirade.

“Do you know who I am? I am him,” he shouted, eyes wide, as he gestured towards the assembled media.

Paul was the heaviest he has weighed in at – 3lb more than for his fight against Mike Tyson last year.

The weight discrepancy has been a major talking point.

Paul has operated largely at cruiserweight for much of his boxing career.

Joshua was never expected to miss the limit, having posted a video on social media two weeks ago showing himself already on target.

He has comfortably made similar weights before, including for both fights against generational great Oleksandr Usyk. At his heaviest, he was 18st 3lb (118kg) during his professional career.

Jake and his team are hoping for a lot of things. Hoping AJ is underestimating him, hoping AJ is shot, hoping AJ’s inactivity will cost him, hoping AJ is low in confidence, hoping AJ’s chin isn’t what it once was.

But, unfortunately for them, AJ is super switched on. He’s had a camp and he’s training like he’s fighting Oleksandr Usyk or in a Daniel Dubois rematch.

I expect my fighter to win inside two rounds with a devastating knockout.

He could hit Jake to the body and he would break his ribs and he wouldn’t be able to get up.

If he hits him clean, he will knock him spark out. Or the referee could jump in.

We don’t know how it could play out but with the way AJ punches – with the speed and destruction – as soon as Jake is hit on the chin, the fight is over.

Then we go back to AJ’s two goals he wants to achieve in the time he has left in this sport – to fight Fury and to become a three-time world heavyweight champion.

Eddie Hearn was speaking to BBC Sport’s Kal Sajad.