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anthony joshua Has come under criticism for his performance against jake paul, Had to take six rounds to stop YouTuber turned boxer,
Joshua, former two-time world heavyweight champion, Faced Paul in a professional heavyweight fight on FridayThis meant that the knockout was allowed, with many fans yearning for an early KO loss for Paul in Miami,
, FOLLOW LIVE: Joshua vs. Paul feud leads to AJ finally blocking YouTuber
But that typical result did not come, with Joshua struggling to defeat the smaller and more evasive man in the first few rounds – in a larger ring than usualAgreed. Paul, 28, also repeatedly dived at Joshua’s legs to avoid damage and buy time.
Nevertheless, Joshua scored four knockdowns in the middle rounds of the scheduled eight and won in the sixth frame. Paul even claimed his jaw was broken,
But Joshua acknowledged that some spectators would be disappointed, saying in his post-fight interview at the Cassia Centre: “I appreciate everyone in this place. It wasn’t the best performance. The ultimate goal was to catch him, choke him and hurt him. That’s what the people wanted, that’s what I had in mind. It took longer than expected.
“Now, Jake Paul played really well tonight. He gets up again and again. It was tough for me out there. We give him our respect, he tried and tried, but he came up there against a real fighter.
“I saw Eddie [Hearn, promoter] Saying: ‘Get him now!’ I said I would take his soul, watch it come out of his body again and again. I said it, and it happened. I understand the psychology of fighting.
Nevertheless, Joshua faced heavy criticism online.
Journalist Kevin Iole tweeted, “He wouldn’t put $100 million on the table to fight [Tyson] Fury, but AJ should retire. That was a very poor performance.”
Promoter Lou DiBella tweeted: “The person who should be ashamed right now is Anthony Joshua… this was his legacy. Paul is a great businessman. AJ doesn’t give two shits about #boxing.”
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Former pro boxer Paulie Malignaggi said in a video on
However, Malignaggi told A.J. Took some slack and said: “But honestly, what do you want that guy to do?”
Journalist Chris Mannix also wrote on X (formerly Twitter) during the match, “This is horrifying.” Yet his criticism seemed to be more about the fight than Joshua’s performance.
Similarly, the referee also said during the contest, “The fans didn’t pay to see this shit,” seemingly addressing Paul due to his repeated diving at Joshua’s legs.
Joshua rejected the idea in his post-fight interview that he had tarnished his legacy by even fighting, saying: “I don’t care about the legacy, it lasts about 50 years, then it’s done.
“This is what I’ve decided to do. I’ll keep doing it until I die. We can just do our best.”