As expected, Anthony Joshua knocked out Jake Paul in Miami on Friday night. What was not expected was that it took Joshua until Round 6 to finish off the influencer-turned-boxer.
The fight was ugly from the jump, with Paul getting on the proverbial bicycle and moving laterally along the ropes, forcing Joshua to chase him around the ring. The strategy was effective enough, as Paul did not take clean shots round after round and it allowed him to have an argument to win one or two of the four opening rounds.
Round 5 was where reality struck for Paul, as Joshua was finally able to land a few clean shots, which proved enough to hurt the smaller Paul. A left from Joshua buckled Paul's legs and allowed Joshua to pounce and score his first knockdown of the fight. A second knockdown followed as Joshua landed a right-hand counter.
Paul managed to escape the round, but he looked exhausted from the constant movement and hurt from Joshua's power shots. Round 6 didn't last long, as Joshua landed a bomb of a right hand that dropped Paul. Paul was unable to beat the referee's count and the fight ended at the 1:31 mark of Round 6.
The fight was ugly, with Paul repeatedly clinching, and many of those clinches resulting in Paul falling to the canvas. Making things ugly was a part of the game plan, however, as Paul was expected to be knocked out early by the best fighter he's faced in his controversial career.
Ahead of the fight, Joshua had told CBS Sports that not stopping Paul in the first round would be "a failure." Joshua changed his tune during the post-fight interview, giving Paul credit as "a real man."
"It wasn't the best performance," Joshua said. "It wasn't the best. The end goal was to get Jake Paul, pin him down and hurt him. That has been the request leading up, and that is what was on my mind. It took a bit longer than expected, but the right hand finally found the destination. 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 trying to find a way. It takes a real man to do that."
The fight was closer than expected through the first four rounds, but significantly swung with Joshua turning it on in Round 5, resulting in a final advantage in punches landed of 48 to 16 for Joshua. That included a total of four knockdowns, but also does not account for Paul falling over constantly as he tried to clinch.
Unsurprisingly, Joshua quickly turned his attention to a long-awaited bout with Tyson Fury, who is once again retired and has teased an on-again-off-again return to the ring.
"We shook off the cobwebs [tonight], and I can't wait to roll into 2026," Joshua said. "If Tyson Fury is as serious as he thinks he is, and he wants to put down his Twitter fingers and put on some gloves and come fight one of the realest fighters there out there that will take on any challenge, step in the ring with me next if you're a real bad boy. ... Let's see you in the ring. Talk with your fists."
For his part, Paul seemed encouraged by the result, though realistic about needing to abandon fighting as a heavyweight, while also stating that he believed Joshua had broken his jaw. Friday's fight was only the second time Paul fought at heavyweight, with the previous bout coming against Mike Tyson, who was in his late 50s.
"Oh yeah, for sure," Paul said of his intentions to continue his boxing career. "We're going to heal the broken jaw, come back and fight people my weight, come back and fight for the cruiserweight title."
Paul's assessment of the fight was simple, taking some pride in lasting into Round 6, but not much more.
"I'm feeling good," Paul said. "That was fun. I love this sport. I gave it my all. It's f---ing crazy. ... Anthony's a great fighter. I got my ass beat. That's what this sport is about. I'm going to come back and keep on winning. ... I love this shit. I'm going to get a world championship belt at some point."
On the undercard, Alycia Baumgardner proved to be too much for Leila Beaudoin as the champion retain her unified junior lightweight titles. Baumgardner previously held the undisputed crown before vacating the WBC belt to take this fight. The bout was unique for the women's game as it was contested under 12, 3-minute rounds as opposed to 10, 2-minute rounds. The added time seemed to play into the champion's favor as she took her time in piecing up Beaudoin from pillar to post.
Plus, Anderson Silva turned back the clock to score a second-round TKO of another former UFC champion in Tyron Woodley. Silva, 50, scored his second knockout since returning to boxing in 2021 with the other coming against Tito Ortiz. Silva had last boxed in 2022 when he face Paul and lost a unanimous decision.
CBS Sports was with you throughout the entire way on Friday with the live results and highlights below.
Joshua vs. Paul fight card, results
- Anthony Joshua def. Jake Paul via sixth-round knockout
- Alycia Baumgardner (c) def. Leila Beaudoin via unanimous decision (117-110, 117-110, 118-109)
- Anderson Silva def. Tyron Woodley via second-round TKO
- Jahmal Harvey def. Kevin Cervantes via unanimous decision (60-53, 60-53, 60-53)
