Reactions to Jake Paul vs Anthony Joshua
What is everyone saying about the Jake Paul vs Anthony Joshua result?
YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul (12-2, 7 KOs) was KO'd in six rounds of a scheduled eight by former two-time unified world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (25-4, 24 KOs) in Miami on Friday, December 19, live on Netflix.
The car crash contest was watched by over 100 millions viewers and the headliners pockted around $70,000 each, but what are people saying about Paul's performance or about Joshua taking up to six rounds to stop the novice? GBN have put together a selection of reactions from boxers, writers and fans of the sport.
Chris Eubank Jr (Former IBO world champion): Regardless of the outcome Jake Paul got into the ring with an Olympic gold medalist & former heavyweight world champion & tried his best until the very end. You have to give that man his respect now… he’s done what most would never & he didn’t give up. Well done Jake.
Tony Bellew (Former WBC cruiserweight world champion): The most important thing is he didn’t leave him permanently hurt! I believe everyone won last night. Fair play to Jake Paul, He tried everything he could to survive! AJ does what he set out to do which is stop Jake Paul! Boxing is and always will be the ultimate 1v1 sport!
Dave Coldwell (Boxing trainer): Now that was the definition of Tom & Jerry! Fair play to Jake Paul
though. Went in and did what he had to do to survive against a real boxer. Fought like the professional journeymen we see week in-week out on shows around the world - slippery, made it hard for AJ to pin him down and ran the clock down as much as he could. But the fact he survived way past what many of us thought he would and took some big shots is a big win for him personally and his brand. Even the finisher, he took well in the fact he wasn’t out unconscious. Was always going to be a lose-lose for Anthony Joshua
apart from the fact that was far more frustrating than I thought it was going to be. I thought we’d see a round of that and then a big KO from AJ. But it reminded me of a first spar back when you know what you want to do but just can’t execute and become more tense. Got the job done in the end, but one to forget!
Dyah Davis (Former NABF super-middleweight champion): AJ did boxing justice tonight, salute to him for ending the clown show. Jake’s got tremendous heart, I’ll give him that and has done some amazing things for women’s boxing. Got to give credit where credits due.
Derek Brunson (UFC fighter): Jake thinks he’s Logan tonight with all of the WWE wrestling!
Martin Williams (Herald Scotland Journalist): This was no 'fight'. #JakePaul ran away from AJ for five rounds. And when he got tired in round 6, and had to get involved, the inevitable wallop and Paul gets his jaw broken. The only winner....bank balances.
Adam Catterall (FightDisciples): Jake Paul DOES deserve credit. Used a bigger ring to avoid engaging. Threw himself to the floor to catch his breath. Only took one real punch (which he says broke his jaw). Got in excess of $50m. He’s found a lane to use the greedy to hoodwink the stupid Very clever lad
Tim Rickson (BBN Editor): Everyone was saying Jake should be 'gone in 60 seconds' and 'if AJ doesn't knock him out in the first round, then it's a fix', but it was clear to me that Jake Paul wouldn't be available for a knockout until after round three or four. He told everyone what he was going to do and he did it - ran around for the first few rounds.
I wrote in my fight preview for WhichBookie that AJ doesn't have fast, agile feet or much of a ring IQ, so he won't get close easily or be clever enough to manoeuvre Paul into position. And, as such, we watched Josh just following him around the ring for three or four rounds, like cat and mouse. When Paul gradually tired and begun to hold his feet, AJ was able to land his shots on the available target and the knockout soon came.
I've seen comparisons made to the Francis Ngannou knockout, but you can't compare a huge, motionless target to a smaller, mobile target - they are the polar opposites.
However, Tyson Fury will have nothing to worry about after watching that.
Corbin Middlemass (Sportscaster @abcsport): Fair play to Jake Paul, to hang with a former heavyweight world champion, not too long removed from his prime, for six rounds, is very impressive. Guy that takes the craft seriously and repeatedly puts on mega events that capture the public’s imagination.
Fan Reactions
"Wild stat: Jake Paul shot 13 takedown attempts against Anthony Joshua while landing just 16 total punches A boxing record that will absolutely never be broken Takedown attempt number 9 seemed to be when AJ had finally had enough."
"Jake Paul gets hit with one real punch by Anthony Joshua and quits."
"He was completely gassed from all the dancing prior and didn't go lights out. Y'all can hate on his strategy because it was cringe but come on."
"I honestly hope this is the last we see of Jake Paul’s bum ass making a mockery of the sweet science. Pack this talentless fraud up. I have never watched one of his fights—I refuse to add to his ratings. Thank God this is over."
"Look at the way AJ finished Ngannou then look at the way he finished JP and tell me the fight wasn't fixed. I guess at least it was scripted so the right man won, but please no more pantomime boxing, total farce, will never watch a JP fight until the day I die."
"A 2 time world heavyweight champion took 6 rounds to knock out an amateur. The boxing board sanctioned a fight where a man could have been seriously hurt and real fighters who will never get a shot at that pay day have been overlooked all for social media clicks. Boxing won?"
"You can’t honestly say AJ comes out of the fight with any positives whatsoever. The fight was a farce from start to finish. Joshua struggled to get him out of there. Jake can maybe take some credit for taking the fight and reaching the 6th round, but most of that was running and falling over. It was an embarrassing night for the sport of boxing."
"And both got 70 mil each. Fair play to both, everyone crying about were bothered enough to watch it. That's why things like this happen. It was always going to be mismatched shite and hardly expect Jake to stand and trade with AJ he's a strange guy but not suicidal!"
