British-Nigerian boxer, Anthony Joshua pocketed $92 million after knocking out Jake Paul in the sixth round of their heavyweight exhibition bout in Miami on Friday night.
Joshua delivered a brutal right hand that broke Paul’s jaw in two places and sent the YouTuber-turned-boxer to the canvas at the Kaseya Centre, ending the fight and Paul’s unbeaten streak.
The two boxers shared a prize pool of $184 million, with each receiving $92 million in what represents the biggest payout of Joshua’s career, surpassing his earnings from defeating Francis Ngannou.
Many predicted the eight-round Netflix heavyweight boxing match wouldn’t last the first couple of rounds, but it proved a frustrating night for Joshua as Paul employed plenty of lateral movement, refusing to engage much with the Brit.
In the deciding session, Joshua landed a right hand to a left hook combination before dropping a fatigued Paul with a right hand on the top of the head. Joshua forced Paul onto the ropes and began to unload on him with a brutal right hand to Paul’s chin, sending him to the canvas. Paul ultimately failed to beat the count.
Joshua, who was ending a 15-month layoff and fighting for the first time since being knocked out by Daniel Dubois in an IBF heavyweight title bout in September 2024, was disappointed with his showing.
“It wasn’t the best performance,” Joshua admitted. “The end goal was to get Jake Paul, pin him down and hurt him. That has been the request leading up to the fight, and that’s what was on my mind. It took a bit longer than expected, but the right hand finally found the destination.
“As I said, I need to give this guy a systematic breakdown. I know what type of fighter he is, and I said I’m going to take his soul, and I said I’m going to see it leaving his body round after round, and when the time comes, some people are just there to get knocked out.”
Joshua called out fellow former heavyweight champion Tyson Fury in his post-fight interview for a dream clash that would be among the biggest in boxing history. Reports suggest a fight between the pair is already in the works for September 2026.
“If Tyson Fury’s as serious as he thinks he is, and he wants to put that on his Twitter fingers and put on some gloves and come and fight one of the realest fighters out there that will take on any challenge — step in the ring with me next if you’re a real bad boy,” Joshua said.
“Don’t do all that talking. ‘AJ this, AJ that.’ Let’s see you in the ring, and you talk with your fists.”
Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, confirmed the readiness to have the fight within two months if Fury shows the desire.
“We want the Tyson Fury fight, of course. That’s the fight, the biggest fight,” Hearn said. “We can do that, by the way, straight away. No interim fights. If Tyson’s ready and AJ is ready, we don’t have to fight in February or March.”
Paul, who was hospitalised after the fight, confirmed his desire to continue in the sport and reiterated his goal to win a boxing world title.
“I think my jaw is broken, by the way. It’s definitely broken,” said Paul, who later posted an X-ray on social media showing the double break on his jawline.
“That was good. Nice little ass whopping from one of the best to ever do it. I love this, and I’m going to come back and get a world championship belt at some point. I’m going to take a little break. I’ve been going hard for six years, so I’m going to take some time off.”
The fight had attracted criticism because of the weight discrepancy and experience gap between the fighters. Paul has fought most of his career at cruiserweight and says he intends to return to that division.
Credit: punchng.com
