The official scorecards for Anthony Joshua’s knockout victory over Jake Paul have finally been released just weeks after their controversial heavyweight showdown in Miami
Anthony Joshua was up on every scorecard before his sixth-round knockout victory over Jake Paul earlier this month.
The Brit returned to the ring for the first time since his agonising knockout defeat to fellow countryman Daniel Dubois in September 2024. Joshua was merely using the controversial clash with the YouTuber-turned-boxer as a way to get some crucial minutes under his belt ahead of a big 2026 in the ring.
In a rather dull and uninspiring heavyweight dust-up, the contest finally sprung to life in the fifth-round when Joshua dropped his foe twice. Paul heard the bell, but Joshua eventually stopped the social media sensation with a brutal right hand just minutes later – which ended up breaking the American’s jaw in two places.
Paul immediately drove himself to the hospital after the fight and was forced to eat Christmas dinner through a straw having undergone surgery for his broken jaw. On Monday, the Florida Athletic Commission shared the official scores with MMA Fighting. The three judges scoring the fight were David Sutherland, Steve Weisfeld and Michael Tate.
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All three judges scored every round in favour of Joshua, including a 10-7 round in the fifth after Joshua had dropped his rival multiple times. The sixth also showed a 10-7 round, but that had no meaning on the fight whatsoever after the former two-time unified heavyweight world champion stopped his adversary with a stinging right hand in the aforementioned round.
Despite the jaw-dropping knockout in the sixth round, and getting back in the win column, the 36-year-old was left disappointed by his display in Miami. “I needed to do better, It’s a win, but it’s not a success. I feel my coach expects more from me, and I expect more from myself. But what can we do? I can’t live off of that win,” he said.
He added: “So, yeah, I’m not happy. I had boxing on my back today, and that is what it was really. I took Jake as serious as I needed to, but most importantly, I take myself as serious as I need to. You have to be prepared. One slip-up could cost you in that ring.”
Paul, meanwhile, has since been suspended indefinitely after suffering the first stoppage defeat of his career. It means he will have to be medically cleared to fight again in the state. The 28-year-old is expected to take some time away from the ring before making a potential return to competitive action next summer.
Ahead of fight night, reports emerged that Tyson Fury was reportedly preparing to make his comeback for a highly anticipated clash with ‘AJ.’ The pair are expected to top the bill during “a Riyadh Season mega-event” in 2026. Ahead of the long-awaited showdown, both fighters will compete in respective tune-up fights.
However, there are some who believe it will be difficult for Joshua to continue boxing after he was involved in a tragic car crash in Nigeria on Monday. Two men – named as Kevin Ayodele and Sina Ghami – were both killed, while ‘AJ’ was also taken to hospital for treatment with minor injuries.
The news emerged earlier on Monday that the British fighter had been in a car crash alongside four others on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. The Federal Road Safety Corps of Nigeria explained in their preliminary findings that the incident involved a black Lexus Jeep, in which Joshua was travelling as a passenger, collided with a stationary red commercial Sinotruck, and that five adult males in total were involved in the collision.
Ayodele worked as Joshua’s personal trainer but is also understood to have been the boxer’s closest friend. Ghami, meanwhile, operated as AJ’s strength and conditioning coach.
Dazed Joshua, whose parents are both Nigerian, was in the backseat of a Lexus which crashed into a stationary truck. Images released by Nigerian authorities showed the crumpled vehicle – with Joshua in agony surrounded by shattered glass. Emergency workers were quick to race to the scene near a petrol station on the busy Lagos-Ibadan expressway shortly after 11am on Monday morning in Makun. The 80-mile expressway is one of the country’s deadliest routes, having claimed 73 lives in the last three months and seen 645 deaths in 27 months.
Many have since been quick to pay tribute to the two men who lost their lives. Flowers and a lit candle are among the gifts left outside the doors of Evolve Gym in Colindale, north west London – which was owned by Ghami, who unfortunately died in the crash.
Agash Satkunarajah, 26, from Harrow, who had met Sina, stood for several minutes looking at the tributes. He said: “It’s quite devastating to see that they went for a holiday and never came home. For AJ I just don’t know where this takes him. I think mentally he’s going to be broken. AJ used to come here and prepare for his fights. He was a close friend of Sina’s.
“Sina was his very good friend, but he was also his strength and conditioning coach so I think it will be very difficult for him to continue when two of the most important people in your boxing career have passed away sadly.”
