By Steven Cummings
The Jake Paul-Anthony Joshua spectacle played out on Friday night and after four laughable rounds of Paul running around the ring, a sincere fight broke out and AJ ended it at 1:31 of the sixth round. Paul was down twice in the fifth and twice in the sixth.
In his in-ring post-fight interview, Anthony Joshua called out Tyson Fury.
The first four rounds saw Jake Paul run around the 22-foot ring with almost no legitimate action. Joshua stalked, and could have done a better job of cutting off the ring, but Paul was as elusive as he could be.
In round five, Jake Paul chose to engage and if you start the clock at that point, then AJ did, in fact, stop the social media star in under two rounds. Down went Paul twice in the fifth, looking awkward and overmatched.
When the sixth round started, it was obvious that the end was near. Another knockdown happened early in the round and Paul rose on shaky legs. Finally, AJ landed a clean right hand and that sent Paul down for the 10-count.
The crowd booed loudly over the first four rounds, rightfully so. Once Jake Paul made the decision to behave as a true heavyweight fighter, he got what any reasonable boxing fan expected. The skepticism of a scripted event loomed over this event, but ultimately, it was a proper boxing match between a world-class fighter and an athlete in workout shape trying to box. No contest.
Anthony Joshua has nothing to be ashamed of on any level. 15 months ago, he was stopped and his career was stalled. His name made big-money fights available but his trajectory as a heavyweight boxer was headed in the wrong direction.
This opportunity is rare. The money is insane. AJ should not be faulted for taking this route.
If anyone doubted the outcome if the fight took place on the level, it is clear as day now that there was no way in this world that Anthony Joshua could lose this fight and almost no chance that he wouldn’t win by punishing knockout.
Jake Paul’s skills were on display here. Against a true championship-caliber opponent, he was completely outclassed. Paul staved off the early-knockout humiliation by avoiding any exchanges. Once he did engage, it went very badly, very quickly.
Nobody should feel betrayed. There was no harm done tonight, or at any point in Jake Paul’s boxing career. He’s not doing anything wrong. There is fan interest and money flowing. Why not?
Can Jake Paul defeat Mike Tyson 30+ years after Iron Mike’s prime? Yes.
Can Jake Paul compete with two-time heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua in the waning days of AJ’s prime? No. Once he endeavored to stand in there and fight, it looked like Johnny Knoxville vs. Butterbean.
No problem for the integrity of boxing. No problem for legitimate fights. These Jake Paul fights are Crazy Town events. He legit beat a bunch of MMA guys and aged boxers. He lost to non-factor Tommy Fury and got blown up by 36-year old Anthony Joshua. All while generating tons of money and fan interest.
Boxing fans, don’t start worrying about the sport’s image now. We’ve had rigged fights, PEDs, politics that block big fights, the mafia running the sport, deaths in the ring, loaded gloves…..the list goes on and on. If you’re still in at this point, you have to see the Jake Paul arc as a minor annoyance, if you’re bothered at all.
For me, it’s interesting. Nothing more, nothing less. How good of a boxer can Jake Paul be? He’s been training appropriately. He’s gotten some good results. But he only succeeds against limited opposition. Tonight we saw how overmatched he is when things don’t go his way. He wobbled and staggered like a guy who had never been damaged.
Because he hadn’t.
But we shouldn’t be mad about it. If he faces a legit guy closer to his natural weight, he probably gets the same thing. He doesn’t have the legs. He’s got a chin for bar fights, but not for professional boxers who attack with a plan. We saw that tonight.
So what? All good.
