Anthony Joshua stopped Jake Paul in the sixth round of Friday night's heavyweight contest at the Kaseya Center in Miami, dropping the YouTuber-turned-boxer four times in a one-sided bout. Paul later drove himself to hospital, where an X-ray confirmed a broken jaw in two places.
Joshua, a former two-time unified champion, was blunt about his performance and what should come next. 'It wasn’t the best performance,' he said. 'The end goal was to get Jake Paul, pin him down and hurt him. That has been the request leading up, and that’s what was on my mind.' He praised Paul's resilience: 'He got up time and time again. It takes a real man to do that.'
After the fight, Joshua wasted no time calling out Tyson Fury, reigniting long-standing talks over a blockbuster clash. '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 and fight one of the realest fighters out there,' Joshua said. 'Let’s see you in the ring and talk with your fists.'
Paul, despite the heavy defeat and injury, struck an upbeat tone. 'I’m feeling good. That was fun,' he said. 'I love this sport. I gave it my all. I had a blast. Anthony’s a great fighter. I got my ass beat, but that’s what this sport’s about.' He added that he plans to return and win a world championship belt.
Nakisa Bidarian, Paul’s co-founder at Most Valuable Promotions, confirmed the injury is being assessed and said recovery time from a broken jaw is typically four to six weeks. 'He took a shower, he drove himself to the hospital,' Bidarian said.
