Sports
Jake Paul’s Honest Verdict on ‘Hard’ Anthony Joshua Punching Power
Jake Paul suffered a sixth-round knockout at the hands of Anthony Joshua last Friday, surviving longer than many expected. He went down multiple times, but it was in the sixth that Joshua decided to end it, knocking Paul down for one last time, and it was the shot that put him down for the final time that also broke the American’s jaw.
Now, The Problem Child has weighed in with his opinion on the former two-time unified heavyweight champion’s punching power.
Paul and Joshua met in Miami on the 19th of December at Kaseya Center. It was controversial to begin with, because the latter is a former two-time unified WBA, WBO, and IBF champion, whereas the former’s record is padded with MMA fighters, and his biggest win was the farcical triumph against 58-year-old Mike Tyson, leading to the feeling that it was actually dangerous for Paul to be stepping into the ring against the Brit.
There was an added surprise as Joshua came in as a late replacement after Jake’s exhibition with lightweight, Gervonta Davis, was cancelled.
There was more drama in fight week. It was agreed that the ring would be 22-by-22-feet, bigger than the standard 20-by-20. This pretty much gave away that Paul’s game plan would be just to survive as long as possible. That is exactly how it transpired.
Jake Paul’s Tactics vs Anthony Joshua
Paul was very much on the back foot for the duration of the fight, looking to use the extra ring space to stay out of range, and whenever the two did get close, he looked to hold on, and in some cases drop to the floor if it meant avoiding what Joshua had used to stop the likes of Wladimir Klitschko, Alexander Povetkin, and Kubrat Pulev, and his second-round demolition of Francis Ngannou.
Eventually, Paul was caught flush with a trademark right from Joshua in the sixth round. He could be seen mouthing that it was a nice shot, so nice that it meant he wouldn’t be getting up once more, and after examination, the shot landed so clean that it broke Paul’s jaw.
Jake Paul Reflects on Fighting Anthony Joshua
After tasting the power of the former champion, Paul said, aside from the final knockdown, he felt he did the best he could and had he done better cardio he maybe could have heard the final bell.
“I’m feeling good. That was fun. I gave it my all. I had a blast. Anthony is a great fighter and I got my a** beat, but this is what this sport is about. I’m going to come back and keep winning. I’ve already won in every single way in life.
“I think my jaw is broken. It’s definitely broke. I’m going to come back and get a world championship belt at some point. I’m not surprised [I went six rounds]. I just got tired to be honest. It was so much handling his weight. If I could have had better cardio I could have kept on fighting.
“He hits hard, and I did my best.”
There is no shame for Paul in that he suffered his second professional defeat to someone of Joshua’s calibre, but it isn’t a great look for him that, apart from the Tyson fight, which really wasn’t one, the only professional boxers he’s fought, he’s lost to in Tommy Fury and now Anthony Joshua.
However, he insists the dream isn’t over, and he will one day hold a world championship belt, most probably at cruiserweight, where he would be most comfortable.
