Anthony Joshua gives honest assessment of his performance against Jake Paul

On December 19, at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Anthony Joshua defeated Jake Paul by sixth-round knockout. It was a huge event, with some impressive undercard performances, but the main event was often difficult to watch, as Paul attempted to survive and not engage with Joshua.
Following Joshua’s KO win, he spoke at the post-fight press conference and gave an honest assessment of the fight and his performance.

Anthony Joshua defeats Jake Paul on December 19

Joshua vs Paul (12-2, 7 KOs) was a difficult watch throughout, with “El Gallo” refusing to engage for the most part, while AJ (29-4, 26 KOs) struggled to cut the ring off, and when he did close the distance, his timing appeared off, which was not totally unexpected after more than a year out of the ring.

Eventually, Paul tired, and Joshua got the KO win at 1:31 of round six. The knockout punch from AJ was impressive, but apart from that, it was an awkward watch, with Paul consistently on the back foot and clinching AJ, or falling forward and hugging Joshua’s legs. You have to praise Paul for stepping into the ring, but as a spectacle, it was a largely horrid watch.

Joshua reflects on performance against Paul

After the bout, attention quickly turned to what was next for both fighters, and while Paul got medical attention for a suspected broken jaw, Anthony Joshua appeared at the press conference and first discussed dealing with Paul, and what he could have done better:

“What I could have done better is a lot of things, 100%. In the fight game, you’ve seen the amazing fighters that have graced us over the last hundred years. The expectations that we put on ourselves are immense, but I tried my best. Jake [did] well while it lasted….I wish that I could have knocked him out at the start, but as we saw tonight, Jake has spirit. He has some heart. 

“He tried his best, and I take my hat off to him because number one, a lot of fighters haven’t got in the ring with me, and Jake did. And secondly, even when he got knocked down, he kept on trying to get up, and I take my hat off to him. So, America, I think you have someone who could potentially, if he still has the heart for it, come back again, dust the dirt off his shoulder, and come again, and maybe sell out this center sometime in 2026,” said AJ.

Anthony Joshua reflects on Paul in the clinch and the KO punch

“In the clinch, he [did] really well. When you’re in survival mode, you’ll always find a way. I was trying to look for certain shots. I actually wanted to let my hands go in the clinch, but he [did] well to tie my hands up. And as you could see, when they were free, I tried to land a few body shots. And yeah, I tried when I could.

“It was a bit messy, but from a systematical breakdown, the right hand landed, it found its home, and the referee waved it off after. I would’ve loved to have landed some more body shots, but it wasn’t for tonight. Maybe in the future, but we got the job done in the end anyway,” said Joshua.

Discussing whether the Jake Paul fight was a success, Joshua gave an honest assetment:

“No. I needed to do better. No, it’s a win, but it’s not a success. I think my coach expects more from me, and I expect more for myself. But what can we do? We can’t reverse the clock. I have to move forward. I have to put that in the past now. After today, you may see a bit of social media trying to lap up all of the algorithm attention, but for me, it’s in the past. I can’t live off of that win. I’ve got a lot of improvement that I need to do, so yeah, I’m not happy.”