Boxing Jan 21, 2026

Jake Paul claims he won two rounds and 'wobbled' Anthony Joshua in their controversial heavyweight fight in Miami

👤
By Admin
Sports Journalist
Jake Paul claims he won two rounds and 'wobbled' Anthony Joshua in their controversial heavyweight fight in Miami

Jake Paul claims to have won two rounds against Anthony Joshua and says he "wobbled" his opponent before being knocked out in the sixth round in Miami on Friday.

The 28-year-old suffered his second loss of his professional boxing career, with his first being to Tommy Fury in 2023, and had to undergo surgery after Joshua broke his jaw in two places.

Britain's two-time world heavyweight champion struggled to put a stop to Paul in the early rounds, but the American also had difficulty staying on his feet throughout the bout.

"It's not that hard to get your a** beat," Paul said on the Impaulsive podcast, co-hosted by his brother Logan Paul.

"I won two rounds then he won two, then I got dropped.

"But I was doing good, my cardio, just the mental pressure of the big guy, and sparring the big people is different than the 10oz gloves so I was feeling his power a lot more.

"It was a great experience, I learnt a lot in there.

"I wish I had more than like three weeks to put on more muscle so I could really hit him. My biggest mistake was not doing altitude training.

"I see where I could have done better so I'm a little disappointed but I also know how good he is. I had him wobbled at one point, but he had his hands up better this fight."

This was only Paul's 14th professional bout after making his debut in 2020, while Joshua had fought 32 times professionally with 28 wins, 25 of which had come by knockout.

It was expected that Joshua would clean up the fight in the opening rounds due to his extensive experience and size.

Having undergone surgery on his jaw, Paul described it as feeling "like a baseball is in there" as he appeared to be visibly swollen on the lower left side of his face.

Lasting six rounds with Joshua has planted a thought in Paul's mind of who his next opponent could be - Francis Ngannou.

The former UFC fighter made his professional boxing debut in a defeat against Tyson Fury in 2023.

Ngannou was then beaten by Joshua via a second-round knockout in 2024.

Now Paul believes Ngannou has something to prove after lasting more rounds against Joshua than the UFC heavyweight.

"I told everyone I would do better than Francis [Ngannou]," Paul said. "Francis is low-key soft."

But before he steps back into the ring, Paul will be taking a break to support his speed skating fiancé, Jutta Leerdam, at the Winter Olympics in February.

Paul had a "serious reality check" in his knockout loss to Anthony Joshua and will not think he can reach world-class level, says Your Site expert Johnny Nelson.

"I think he realised the task in hand when he stood there in the 22-foot ring.

"He sees an Adonis of a fighter, former world champion Anthony Joshua, in the other corner and that's when reality hit fiction.

"Everything he had in his head, everything he thought that he could possibly do had disappeared, slipped out of the ring with the cornermen and he thought 'wow, this is for real'.

"Even a little jab that just gently missed him, you could see him thinking 'what is this about?' So it was a case of survival and I didn't want Joshua to knock him out, if I'm honest with you. I thought 'you've got to make this kid have a reality check' and that's what he actually did.

"Boxing looks so easy on the TV, it looks so matter of fact, no big deal - until you get punched and then reality kicks in.

"Jake Paul has done a brilliant job of promoting himself, promoting this fight, evoking human emotion and I think he'll be a great promoter down the line. You had all these amazing fights on the undercard, all the female fighters getting their chance to shine, and I thought 'you know what, you're doing your job, you've got everyone talking about you."

Tags:

boxing news

Share this article

Related Posts

Tyson Fury: Eddie Hearn says boxing heavyweight 'still in his prime' and 2026 comeback to fight in ring good news

Tyson Fury: Eddie Hearn says boxing heavyweight 'still in his prime' and 2026 comeback to fight in ring good news

Tyson Fury is still in his "prime" and his return to boxing is great for the sport, says Eddie Hearn.Fury, 37, confirmed at the start of January he wi...

Daniel Dubois could return against Zhilei Zhang who 'absolutely wants' fight against British heavyweight

Daniel Dubois could return against Zhilei Zhang who 'absolutely wants' fight against British heavyweight

Daniel Dubois could be on a collision course with Zhilei Zhang who 'absolutely wants' a fight against Britain's former world heavyweight champion.Dubo...

Dalton Smith: WBC champion a level above Adam Azim and would 'smash him to bits', says promoter Frank Smith

Dalton Smith: WBC champion a level above Adam Azim and would 'smash him to bits', says promoter Frank Smith

Newly-crowned world champion Dalton Smith has assumed a level above Adam Azim and would "smash him to bits" in the ring, according to Matchroom Boxing...

Jake Paul vows to beat Anthony Joshua and 'shock the world', promises 'biggest upset in sports history'

Jake Paul vows to beat Anthony Joshua and 'shock the world', promises 'biggest upset in sports history'

Jake Paul plans to "shock the world" and "pull off the biggest upset in sports history" when he takes on former two-time world heavyweight champion An...

Anthony Joshua vs Jake Paul to join list of boxing's most unusual bouts: Wrestlers, Presidential candidates, five men?!

Anthony Joshua vs Jake Paul to join list of boxing's most unusual bouts: Wrestlers, Presidential candidates, five men?!

On Friday, Anthony Joshua returns to the ring for a surprise fight against YouTube star Jake Paul. Below, revisit some of the more unusual bouts from...

Tyson Fury brands Anthony Joshua 'a classless loser' in social media tirade by former world heavyweight champion

Tyson Fury brands Anthony Joshua 'a classless loser' in social media tirade by former world heavyweight champion

Tyson Fury has branded Anthony Joshua "a classless loser" in a social media tirade ahead of Joshua's fight against YouTuber Jake Paul.Fury has "indica...