MIAMI, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Former heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua delivered a dose of reality to American Jake Paul on Friday with a savage sixth-round knockout that left the social-media-star-turned prize-fighter nursing a jaw broken in two places.
Paul managed to evade the heavily favoured Briton through a lacklustre first four rounds before Joshua found his range, knocking his opponent down twice in the fifth round and finishing him off with a devastating right hand in the sixth.
"It took a little bit longer than expected but the right hand finally found its destination," said Joshua, who was returning to the ring after a 15-month layoff.
"Jake Paul has done really well tonight. I want to give him his props. He got up time and time again. It was difficult in there for him but he kept trying to find a way.
"It takes a real man to do that... but he came up against a real fighter tonight."
JOSHUA CALLS OUT FURY
After the bout, which was carried live to Netflix's approximately 300 million subscribers, the 36-year-old Joshua called out long-time rival Tyson Fury.
"If you're a real bad man, don't do all that talking, 'AJ this, AJ that,' let's see you in the ring and talk with your fists," he said.
Paul, who stepped up from cruiserweight for the bout and has brought a new audience to boxing through his fights and promotion company Most Valuable Promotions, was no match for Joshua's size, strength and experience.
"I think my jaw is broken," Paul, 28, said before spitting out blood.
"It's definitely broke but man, that was good."
'DOUBLE BROKEN JAW' FOR PAUL
Paul later confirmed on social media that he had suffered a "double broken jaw", uploading an X-ray showing two breaks while he joked he was ready to fight Mexican boxer Canelo Alvarez in 10 days' time.
"A nice little a**-whooping from one of the best to ever do it...," Paul added. "I'm going to come back and get a world championship belt at some point."
Others were not convinced.
"This is a clown show," former UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling posted on X.
Paul frustrated Joshua, and viewers, by diving at the Briton's legs repeatedly and ending up on the canvas in the early rounds.
"Why are people complaining? You knew what you were gonna get," former mixed martial artist and podcaster Josh Thomson posted. "If you thought anything else you were in denial."
U.S. President Donald Trump said he had tuned into the fight.
"On the plane I just got to watch the Jake Paul Fight, and he did really well, especially as a display of GREAT Courage against a very talented and large Anthony Joshua," he posted on Truth Social.
"Fantastic Entertainment, but Kudos to Jake for his Stamina, and frankly, Ability, against a much bigger man!"
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles, Additional reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
