Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
anthony joshua called out tyson fury YouTuber turned boxer but after working hard for sixth round victory jake paul In miami,
Joshua, who is reportedly close to agreeing to a long-awaited fight against Fury in Riyadh in 2026, was forced to work harder than he should have to fend off the challenge of a brave, but extremely limited, opponent as he did little to suggest he was any closer to returning to the upper echelons of the sport.
Former heavyweight champion struggles to land a meaningful punch Paul He proved elusive in the early rounds, but was knocked down twice in the fifth round and eventually scored a knockout in the sixth.
“It wasn’t the best performance,” Joshua told Netflix.
“We have to give Jake his respect for trying and trying and trying, but he came across a real fighter tonight, coming off a 15-month layoff, that shook out all the traps.
“I can’t wait to get into 2026. 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 out there and fight one of the most genuine fighters who can take on any challenge, if you’re a real bad boy then step into the ring with me.
“Don’t talk about all this ‘AJ this, AJ that’, let’s see you in the ring and talk fistfights.”
When asked if his 15-month stint out of the ring following his loss to Daniel Dubois played any role in him taking so long to defeat an opponent whose previous career was primarily against former UFC stars or faded boxing veterans, Joshua insisted that he had deliberately messed with Paul.
He added, “I need to convince this man in a systematic way.”
“I said I would take his soul, I said I would see it come out of his body every round. When the time comes, there will be some people out there. I said it and that’s exactly what happened.
“I just took my time and got the job done within the time limit of eight rounds.
“I refuse to get hurt, I refuse to admit being hurt. As soon as he hit me, I stood there and I tried to hit him back.
“At the end of the day there will be a winner and that’s me tonight.”
Paul barely got a shot off, but he showed admirable heart to hang on for so long even after Joshua started bombarding him.
The 28-year-old later revealed he thought his jaw was broken after spitting up blood from the mouth during a post-fight interview.
“I feel good, it was fun,” he said. “I love this game. I put everything into it… I had a lot of fun.”
“Anthony is a great fighter, I got my ass kicked but that’s what this game is about.
“I think my jaw is broken…it’s definitely broken. Nice ass from one of the best ever.
“We’re going to heal that broken jaw, fight someone at our weight and go for the cruiserweight world title.”