Anthony Joshua, the British heavyweight boxer of Nigerian heritage, delivered a sixth-round knockout victory over Jake Paul in their heavyweight bout at the Kaseya Center, Miami, in the early hours of Saturday.
The 36-year-old two-time world champion recorded his 29th win in 33 professional fights with the victory.
The eight-round bout, a tune-up fight for Joshua and a commercial event against the YouTuber-turned-boxer Paul, was a mismatch from the first bell.
Paul danced around the ring from the start and clinched at every close contact, but the 28-year-old managed to land a few shots while Joshua looked for the big blow to end the fight early.
Joshua made headway in the second round with his jab and body shots as he stalked Paul through the ring, a recurring theme until the fifth round where he successfully knocked his opponent down twice.
A punch to the body dropped Paul to the canvas, before Joshua unloaded multiple shots that caused the second knockdown as he looked to close out the fight against a tired opponent.
Joshua finally secured the knockout in the sixth round, dropping Paul multiple times, before a clean shot ended the fight as the referee stopped the contest after Paul failed to beat the count.
The victory is Joshua’s first on American soil since his previous loss to Andy Ruiz Jr., while the Sagamu native also improved his knockout record to 26 KOs in his 29 wins. He landed 48 punches to Paul’s 16 in the six-round bout.
Speaking after what he called a victory that cleared the “cobwebs,” Joshua called out fellow British boxer Tyson Fury as he seeks a major fight in 2026.
“We shook off the cobwebs,” he started. “I can’t wait for 2026.
“If Tyson Fury is as serious as he says he is, and he wants to put down his Twitter fingers and put on some gloves, and come and fight one of the realest fighters out there, step into there with me next if you’re a really bad boy.”
