Anthony Joshua knocks out Jake Paul in controversial struggle referee manufacturers ‘crap’

Anthony Joshua beat Jake Paul in their controversial heavyweight boxing fight on Netflix.

Joshua, 36, was making his first return to the ring since his knockout defeat against Daniel Dubois at Wembley in September 2024 for the IBF heavyweight title. And he has now extended his professional record to 29-4. While Paul, who was ranked No.14 in the WBA Cruiserweight division, now holds a record of 12-2 since becoming a professional boxer after his YouTube and social media fame.

Olympic gold medallist Joshua looked deadly serious as he made his way to the ring along with a live performance from US rapper Freeway. Paul meanwhile was playing to the crowd in a Hulk Hogan inspired outfit, in tribute to the late WWE icon. He emerged to the sound of the wrestler’s classic theme song Real American, before rapper 6ix9ine gave a live performance.

Paul was trying to pull off arguably the biggest upset in sporting history. The first round saw Paul do his best to avoid Joshua and his jab, dancing around the ring, as the Brit stalked him down.

The crowd became restless and booed, before Paul landed the first blow, an overhand right, before a double jab. He tussled with his opponent and pulled him down. As the round ended, Joshua connected with a right hand, but he appeared to be toying with his rival.

In the second, Joshua swung at Paul and missed. Paul threw jabs, but Joshua struggled to pin down the evasive smaller man. He struggled to land any hits in the big ring. In the third, Paul managed to land a jab on Joshua, before more grappling. Some wild punches from Joshua failed to land and fans booed.

The fourth round was equally uninspiring, before a right uppercut from Joshua. There was then a timeout after Paul fell to the canvas with Joshua’s knee connecting with him in a tussle. Paul then went for what looked like a wrestling takedown, as the referee again called for a break. The referee said: “This has to stop. The fans didn’t pay to see this crap.”

The fight finally came to life in round five, Paul suffered an uppercut from Joshua and took a knee. He had Paul corned as he tried to fight back, but he was blowing for air. A big left rocked the social media star, who was knocked down. A right hand knocked him down again as he got up on eight. Paul landed a clean right in response, but he just managed to survive the round after another right clipped him.

Round six saw Joshua go for the kill and down Paul went again after a right hand, the third knockdown of the fight. He wanted to continue but was clearly tired and managed to withstand a right uppercut as he stuck out his tongue and taunted Joshua. But a big left hand knocked him out.

Speaking ahead of the controversial fight, the two-time unified world champion insisted he was taking on Paul for the boxing ‘purists’. He said: “With this one, it feels like I’m being pulled in to save the purists of boxing because people don’t like I’m fighting Jake.

“If we look at the people that don’t want me to be here, but want me to put an end to ‘the Jake Paul show’, I understand it and that’s why I carry boxing on my back with this fight.”

Paul claimed before the fight he would cause ‘the biggest upset in the history of sports’.

As quoted by Sky Sports, he said: “There’s no sporting teams in history that have gone together where it’s this big of a difference in terms of skill, experience, resume, height, weight, etc.

“So this is going to be the biggest upset in the history of sports, and you guys get to witness it.”

More to follow…

This is a breaking sports story and is being constantly updated with the latest news, pictures and videos. Please refresh the page regularly.

You can also get email updates on the day’s biggest sports stories straight to your inbox by signing up for our sports newsletter.

Get all the very best sports news, pictures, opinion and video by following Daily Star every time you see our name.

Follow Daily Star on Google News – CLICK HERE and click the star

Follow Daily Star on Apple News – CLICK HERE available on Apple devices

Follow Daily Star on Flipboard – CLICK HERE and click follow
You can also sign up for Twitter alerts for breaking news by following @‌DailyStar_Sport and follow us @‌dailystar for all the latest updates.

Keep up-to-date with your must-see sports stories, features, videos and pictures throughout the day by following us on Facebook at Daily Star Football | London