Anthony Joshua vs Jake Paul: Result, scorecards, reaction, punch statistics, analysis, undercard results, earnings & more

Mark Mothershaw Updated: 20 Dec 25 12:06

Everything you need to know after Anthony Joshua marked his long-awaited return to heavyweight action with a sixth round knockout victory over American novice Jake Paul in Miami, Florida, in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Boxing

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Result

Anthony Joshua vowed to end the Jake Paul era in emphatic fashion and duly stuck to his word, prevailing by virtue of a sixth round stoppage.

Make no mistake about it, it was far from the vintage AJ that we became accustomed to during his first world championship run.

However, despite Paul doing all he could to avoid the hard-hitting hands of the Briton and making full use of a ring which looked big enough to comfortably hold a new build, Joshua;s quality eventually came to the fore.

He had his opponent down three times in the fifth round, before letting rip a sensational right hook in the sixth which left the Cleveland native unable to beat the ten count.

Judgement Day is over in Miami, and so could well be Jake Paul's world title dream.

Scorecards

All three judges had Anthony Joshua ahead on the cards at the time of the stoppage, as shown below:

David Sutherland's Scorecard

	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Round 7	Round 8	Total
Joshua	10	10	10	10	10				50
Paul	9	9	9	9	7				43

Michael Tate's Scorecard

	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Round 7	Round 8	Total
Joshua	10	10	10	10	10				50
Paul	9	9	9	9	7				43

Steve Weisfeld's Scorecard

	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Round 7	Round 8	Total
Joshua	10	10	10	10	10				50
Paul	9	9	9	9	7				43

Post-Fight Reaction

Anthony Joshua:

"Well, first of all I want to give love to the crowd - I really do appreciate every one.

"Look, it wasn't the best performance but the end goal was to get Jake Paul, pin him down and hurt him - that was the request of me beforehand.

"Eventually I got there. Jake Paul, I want to give him his props - he got up time and time again, and kept trying to find a way.

"He deserves the respect for trying, trying and trying, but he came up against a real fighter tonight who has had a 15 month layoff.

"I have dusted off the cobwebs now, so if Tyson Fury wants to put his fists where his mouth is, let's get this on in 2026!

"This is what I do and I am going to keep going until I can't throw another punch."

Jake Paul:

"I am feeling good - that was fun, I love this sport - it's crazy and I had a blast.

"I am so blessed to be able to put huge events on like this. Anthony is a great fighter, I got my ass beat but I will be back and I will keep on fighting.

"I have already won in every sense of my life, my family, my fiance, so a defeat here means nothing.

"I am not surprised I made it through to six rounds, I just got tired in the end, but he hits really hard and I gave all I could.

"I am going to keep fighting and when I heel this broken jaw, I will fight people my weight and I will be going for that cruiserweight world title."

Eddie Hearn:

"We want the Tyson Fury fight now, of course.

"Good rounds in the bank for AJ tonight, but he is back now, he's got those cobwebs dusted off as he said and now it's all systems go towards a world title in 2026."

Odds vs Result

Anthony Joshua's pre-fight price of 1/12 implied a 92.3% probability of victory, meaning it came as no surprise to see him crowned the victor.

At 2/7, the Matchroom star's method of victory was always likely to come via KO / TKO, given his far greater standing in the sport.

Jake Paul was the big outsider at 6/1, although for many people, those odds were far too short given the fact the American had never stepped inside the ring with anyone near the quality of the former two-time unified heavyweight champion of the world, Joshua.

There was an apparent 6.7% probability of the Briton securing victory in the sixth round, meaning punters backing an AJ win at that stage of the fight will be handsomely rewarded having taken on the 14/1 pre-fight price.

Fight Analysis

Right from the offset, there was a clear vast difference in the technical qualities of both men.

Jake Paul was intent on not getting hurt from the first bell, so much so, that he actually wore himself out by dancing around the ring by the end of the second round.

AJ, as expected, took centre ring, looked to pin his opponent down at every opportunity, although he did show signs of frustration as Paul continuously evaded him, whilst on the odd occasion he was able to close the gap, the American dropped to his knees.

In truth, the official should have docked a point early doors, but in the end, AJ was always going to catch his prey.

The Watford man sent Paul packing to the deck twice in the fifth round, before putting the fight to bed midway through the sixth, landing a barrage of shots, including a thumping right hook that closed the show just seconds after Paul had hauled himself off the deck for a third time.

To his credit, Paul tried his best to soldier on, but he was unable to beat the ten count leaving the official with no choice than to wave the fight off.

Joshua vowed to prove the difference between an elite-level operator and a novice, and whilst it took him a bit of time to find his groove, the cream eventually rose to the top.

Punch Statistics

Anthony Joshua		Jake Paul
48	Punches Landed	16
146	Punches Thrown	56
33%	Percent	29%

Fight Earnings

According to sources online, most notably the Daily Mail, the prize purse for Anthony Joshua vs Jake Paul is an astonishing $184 million (£139.5 million)!

It's understood that a 50/50 split was agreed, meaning both men will take home $92 million (just under £70 million) - a figure that represents the biggest payday of each of their careers.

Matchroom star Joshua is believed to have earned around £100 million for his two fights with Oleksandr Usyk, whilst his sensational triumph over former heavyweight king Wladimir Klitschko earned him £15 million back in 2017.

It's expected that with sponsorships agreements and endorsement deals, the total amount that each fighter will earn from the fight will be in excess of $100 million (£75 million).