Despite the weight discrepancy between Jake Paul and Anthony Joshua, it took six rounds before the heavyweight main event on Netflix was settled with a devastating finish.
A slow start from both men was erased by 1:31 into the sixth round when the 36-year-old Joshua (29-4, 26 KOs) landed a clean right hand to the jaw of the 28-year-old Paul (12-2, 7 KOs) to close the deal via KO at the Kaseya Center in Miami Friday night.
Joshua out-landed Paul 48-16 with four knockdowns.
Joshua was not thrilled with the way he fought, admitting he should have finished Paul sooner. But he showed mutual respect to Paul following the fight, lifting his competitor's arm and saying Paul "kept trying to find a way."
"As I said, I need to give (Paul) a systematic breakdown," Joshua said.
Joshua added he would entertain a fight with Tyson Fury, should he come out of retirement next year.
"If Tyson Fury is as serious as he thinks he is, and he wants to put down his Twitter fingers and put on some gloves and come and fight one of the realest fighters that will take on any challenge, step in the ring with me next if you're a real bad boy," Joshua said. " ... Let's see you in the ring and talk with your fists."
Paul said he felt fine overall after the loss, although he admitted that he believed he had sustained a broken jaw.
"We're going to heal the broken jaw, come back and fight people my weight, go for the cruiserweight title," Paul said.
Round 1 saw an extremely slow start from both Paul and Joshua with only one meaningful jab thrown from Paul up until the final 25 seconds. Joshua nearly found the knockout shot before running out of time, as the broadcast team called it a "moral victory" for Paul to make it out of the opening round.
In the second round, Joshua became visibly frustrated as Paul continued to clinch up and stay away from Joshua's right hand. Neither man found significant strikes as the round ended with both men beginning to show fatigue. A combined four punches were landed in the round.
Round 3 was more of a non-offensive affair as Paul continued to circle away from Joshua. Only 10 combined punches found a home for both men, with Paul's jab continuing to get through. But, once again, no fight-ending sequences from either man.
Round 4 saw far more extracurricular activity from Paul (falling down, slipping to a knee, attempting to wrestle Joshua) than actual boxing. There was visible anger from Joshua as well as referee Chris Young, who called them together and told them, "The fans ain't pay to see this crap."
Round 5 may have been Joshua's best round of the fight as he secured a knockdown on Paul, but couldn't put Paul away entirely despite a second knockdown with under a minute left.
Round 6 saw the final chapter of Paul-Joshua, as a right hand made the difference in the KO for the former two-time unified heavyweight champion from England, delivering Joshua his first win in the United States.
-Field Level Media