Jake Paul suffered a debilitating defeat by knock out as he faced off against Anthony Joshua in a hotly anticipated boxing showdown.
Paul was hit with the match-ending blow in round six of the fight against Joshua which was held at Kaseya Center in Miami and streamed live on Netflix on Friday, December 19.
The former two-time unified heavyweight champion landed the knockout punch on Paul after the YouTuber attempted to taunt Joshua by sticking his tongue out at him before the final blow.
After earlier pushing through a brutal onslaught from his rival, Paul was unable to respond to the referee’s count this time around. The ref had no choice but to call it, crowning Joshua victorious.
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Paul appeared to be in good spirits as he conceded defeat, admitting he enjoyed the match despite the loss.
“I feel good. That was fun. I love this sport,” he said, per multiple media reports. “I got my ass beat, but that’s what this sport is about.”
Although he came off second best on the night, Paul said he still felt like a winner and vowed to return and “get myself a belt.”
“Man, I’ve already won in every single way in life,” he said. “This sport has helped me in every single way … I think my jaw is broken, by the way.”
For his part, Joshua claimed he thought he would win the fight a lot faster than how it ultimately played out.
“It wasn’t the best performance. It wasn’t the best,” he said in the ring. “The end goal was ‘pin Jake Paul down and hurt him.’”
The boxer then admitted, “It took a bit longer than expected.”
Joshua also praised his rival in his post-match speech, complimenting Paul for his performance in the fight.
“Jake Paul did really well and he deserves his props. It takes a real man to do that and he deserves respect for trying and trying and trying,” Joshua said. “It takes a real man to do that. We have to give Jake Paul respect.”
Joshua added, “He came up against a real fighter tonight.”
Boxing fans were also vocal about the Joshua v Paul fight, flocking to social media to sound off.
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“Love him or hate him Jake Paul is tough! To keep getting up and having another go takes balls,” wrote one fan, while another added, “Respect to Jake Paul (even though I don’t like him) for holding out against Anthony Joshua for so long! Big respect!”
Others were less than impressed with Paul’s performance, accusing him of dragging out the fight by strategically dropping to his knees throughout the night in order to last longer in the ring.
“This was so pathetic bro. Jake taking a knee every 20 seconds just so he could get farther into the fight lmao,” raged one X user, while another wrote, “Jake Paul couldn’t run enough. He should try to run track instead.”
Mocking Paul’s moves, another joked, “Jake tired himself out with all that damn falling 😭”
It was a sentiment that seemed to be echoed by referee Christopher Young, who at one point warned the fighters,”The fans did not pay to see this crap.”
