Anthony Joshua knocks out Jake Paul in sixth round of heavyweight bout

Former ‍heavyweight ‍champion beats ⁠social-media-star-turned combatant ‍with a sixth-round knockout successful Miami.

Former satellite heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua knocked out YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul successful their arguable Netflix-backed bout successful Miami.

Two-time satellite champion Joshua made hard enactment of defeating his vastly little experienced hostile connected Friday night, but yet made his superior size and powerfulness number successful the aboriginal stages of the eight-round fight.

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A mediocre contention astatine the Kaseya Center – with the 2 men reportedly splitting a mammoth purse of $184m – descended into farce astatine times, with Paul repeatedly dropping to the canvas and grappling astatine Joshua’s legs.

At 1 signifier adjacent referee Christopher Young appeared to beryllium losing patience, informing the fighters successful the 4th round: “The fans did not wage to spot this crap.”

As Paul tired, Joshua yet began to onshore punches with much regularity and aft knocking down the American doubly successful the 5th circular the extremity came swiftly successful the sixth.

Joshua backed the 28-year-old into a country and aft teeing up Paul with a crunching left, delivered the knockout stroke with a close to the chin that sent his hostile crashing to the canvas.

“It wasn’t the champion performance,” Joshua, 36, admitted afterwards. “But the extremity end was to get Jake Paul, pin him down and wounded him.

“That was the petition starring up, and that was connected my mind. It took a spot longer than expected but the close manus yet recovered its destination.”

Joshua meantime praised Paul for lasting into the aboriginal rounds.

“I privation to springiness him his props – helium got up clip and clip again,” Joshua said. “It was hard successful determination for him, but helium kept connected trying to find a way. It takes a existent antheral to bash that.”

Paul, meanwhile, his rima bloodied from Joshua’s last assault, said helium believed his jaw had been breached – but was satisfied with his performance.

“That was fun. I gave it my all,” Paul said. “I had a blast. I deliberation my jaw is breached by the way. But Anthony’s 1 of the champion to ever bash it so. I’m gonna travel backmost and get a satellite championship.

“I conscionable got bushed to beryllium honorable – similar it was truthful overmuch handling his weight. I deliberation with amended cardio I could person kept it up and kept connected fighting. But helium hits truly hard.”

The bout was carried unrecorded to ‌Netflix’s astir 300 cardinal subscribers.

Friday’s made-for-streaming contest, which came conscionable implicit a twelvemonth aft Paul had fought a 58-year-old Mike Tyson successful a much-derided Netflix fight, had triggered alarm crossed boxing fixed the disparity successful size and acquisition betwixt the 2 men.

Yet the devastating archetypal oregon 2nd circular knockout by Joshua that astir had predicted failed to materialise arsenic Paul scrambled desperately to enactment extracurricular of the 2012 Olympic champion’s range.

Joshua, warring for the archetypal clip successful 15 months, ever looked the much threatening combatant though, landing 48 of 146 punches thrown compared to Paul’s meagre full of 16 punches landed.