Anthony Joshua knocks out Jake Paul but takes six rounds to do it

The disbelief that tonight’s fight is going ahead has been unanimous. Even Eddie Hearn, Joshua’s own promoter and ultimate salesman, has expressed his surprise. Our man on the ground, Gareth Davies, labelled it ‘demeaning for Joshua and dangerous for Paul’, while also urging any true boxing fans to support ‘AJ’ in his quest to end the advent of influencer boxing. Evidently, a comprehensive Joshua win is what it takes to do this, given the refusal to sanction the bout by the British Boxing Board of Control, among other authorities, is seemingly irrelevant. 

Of course there is, for Joshua, good reason to take on the fight, with £70m reportedly headed to his bank account, but any fan of boxing will have to hope his motivations are more moral. It was thought the Jake Paul ‘problem child’ fiasco had reached a low point when he went the distance, and won, against a 58-year-old Mike Tyson in November last year. A similar result against a champion training with team Oleksandr Usyk would cause unthinkable damage to a once reputable sport. There is not an informed voice in the sport, however, that genuinely believes that is possible. 

For better or worse, we’re here now, so let’s try and enjoy it for what it is. With Netflix’s banishment of pay-per-view, at least viewing numbers will be high. Stick with us as we build up to ring walks, predicted to start at 3.30am, with analysis from Miami and insight from the world of boxing.