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Agence France-Presse

Former world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua knocked out YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul in their controversial Netflix-backed bout in Miami on Friday.
Two-time world champion Joshua made hard work of defeating his vastly less experienced opponent, but finally made his superior size and power count in the later stages of the eight-round fight.
A mediocre contest at the Kaseya Centre – with the two men reportedly splitting a mammoth purse of US$184 million – descended into farce at times, with Paul repeatedly dropping to the canvas and grappling at Joshua’s legs.
At one stage even referee Christopher Young appeared to be losing patience, warning the fighters in the fourth round: “The fans did not pay to see this crap.”
As Paul tired, Joshua finally began to land punches with more regularity and after knocking down the American twice in the fifth round the end came swiftly in the sixth.

Joshua backed the 28-year-old into a corner and after teeing up Paul with a crunching left, delivered the knockout blow with a right to the chin that sent his opponent crashing to the canvas.
“It wasn’t the best performance,” Joshua, 36, admitted afterwards. “But the end goal was to get Jake Paul, pin him down and hurt him.
“That was the request leading up, and that was on my mind. It took a bit longer than expected, but the right hand finally found its destination.”
He praised Paul for lasting into the later rounds.
“I want to give him his props – he got up time and time again,” Joshua said. “It was difficult in there for him, but he kept on trying to find a way. It takes a real man to do that.”
Paul, meanwhile, his mouth bloodied from Joshua’s final assault, said he believed his jaw had been broken – but was satisfied with his performance.
“That was fun. I gave it my all,” Paul said. “I had a blast. I think my jaw is broken by the way. But Anthony’s one of the best to ever do it. I’m gonna come back and get a world championship.
“I just got tired to be honest – like it was so much handling his weight. I think with better cardio I could have kept it up and kept on fighting. But he hits really hard.”
Friday’s made-for-streaming contest, which came little more than a year after Paul had fought a 58-year-old Mike Tyson in a much-derided Netflix fight, had triggered alarm across boxing given the disparity in size and experience between the two men.
Yet the devastating first or second round knockout by Joshua that most had predicted failed to materialise as Paul scrambled desperately to stay outside of the 2012 Olympic champion’s range.
Joshua, fighting for the first time in 15 months, always looked the more threatening fighter though, landing 48 of 146 punches thrown compared with Paul’s meagre total of 16 punches landed.


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Anthony Joshua knocks out Jake Paul to win controversial Netflix boxing bout

Jake Paul (left) does his best to avoid a swinging right hand from Anthony Joshua during their bout at the Kaseya Centre in Miami. Photo: Reuters

Jake Paul falls on the canvas after being hit by Anthony Joshua. Photo: AP

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Jake Paul said this week he wanted to create the biggest upset in sporting history. Photo: Reuters

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Anthony Joshua knocks out Jake Paul to win controversial Netflix boxing bout

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Former world heavyweight champion makes hard work of beating YouTuber in Miami

Former world heavyweight champion makes hard work of beating YouTuber in Miami