The heavyweight matchup between Anthony Joshua (29-4) and Jake Paul (12-2) Friday night at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida on Netflix was one of the most anticipated boxing matches in recent memory.
Not because it was an evenly matched scrap but because most would argue that Joshua is the first real opponent Paul has fought in his six-year professional career, and many tuned in hoping to see the polarizing Paul get knocked out — which is exactly what happened.
To Paul’s credit, he made it to the sixth of eight rounds before Joshua, a two-time heavyweight champion who’s won 26 of his 29 victories by knockout, poured it on and sent Paul crumpling to the mat before the fight was called off.
Many believed if he put forth a sloppy performance in a losing effort on Friday that Paul might call it a career after 14 professional bouts. The 28-year-old YouTuber-turned-boxer addressed that retirement speculation after the match during an interview with Ariel Helwani.
“Oh yeah, for sure [I want to keep fighting],” Paul stated. “We’re going to heal the broken jaw, come back and fight people my weight and go for the cruiserweight world title.”
“I’m going to take a little break,” Paul added. “I’ve been going hard for six years. I’m going to take some time off.”
As for Joshua, he called out longtime rival Tyson Fury. The two have been destined to fight one another at some point, and if Joshua gets his way, 2026 is when it will happen.
“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 and fight one of the realest fighters out there that will take on any challenge, step into the ring with me next if you’re a real bad boy,” Joshua exclaimed. “Don’t do all that talking, ‘AJ this, AJ that’, let’s see you in the ring and talk with your fists.”
Fury (34-2-1) is coming off back-to-back losses to undefeated WBA (Super), WBC, WBO, IBO, IBF and The Ring heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk (24-0) — the only two defeats of Fury’s career.
Both Paul and Joshua pocketed a reported $92 million apiece for Friday’s bout.
