 "Jake Paul barely stood a chance against Anthony Joshua during their heavyweight bout in Miami on Friday, 19 December. AP")
Jake Paul couldn’t quite pull off an encore of his victory over Mike Tyson when facing Anthony Joshua, suffering a sixth-round knockout in their heavyweight showdown on Friday in Miami. Such was the two-time heavyweight champion’s dominance at the 19,600-capacity Kaseya Center in Miami that he dropped the visibly fading YouTuber-turned-professional boxer twice during the fifth round.
Joshua then brought the lopsided contest to a screeching halt with a powerful right uppercut early during the sixth round, before flooring the 28-year-old, who has a 12-2 pro record, with a combination to the head. The Briton, who has a 29-4 professional record including 26 KOs, thus highlighted why he belongs to the sport’s elite.
Joshua showed no signs of rust in his first bout in over a year, having not competed since he was knocked out in five rounds by fellow Briton Daniel Dubois in September last year. Following his dominant victory over Paul, Joshua is expected to shift his focus to reclaiming the heavyweight title that he had lost to Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk.
Paul heavily trolled after lopsided defeat against Joshua
Social media, meanwhile, was flooded with memes after Paul was easily outpunched by Joshua, many taking a dig at him for failing to back up his trash talk with his in-ring performance. Some of the biggest names in the world of boxing and other combat sports also weighed in on the highly-anticipated showdown that was aired on Netflix.
Here are select reactions: