Boxing
How Anthony Joshua delivered a reality check to Paul with a sixth-round KO
Former heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua delivered a dose of reality to Jake Paul on Friday night (Saturday morning in Nigeria) with a savage sixth-round knockout in Miami that left the social-media-star-turned-prizefighter nursing a suspected broken jaw.
Paul managed to evade the heavily favoured Briton through a lacklustre first four rounds before Joshua found his range, knocking his opponent down twice in the fifth round and finishing him off with a devastating right hand in the sixth.
“It took a little bit longer than expected, but the right hand finally found its destination,” said Joshua, who was returning to the ring after a 15-month layoff.
“Jake Paul has done really well tonight. I want to give him his props. He got up time and time again. It wasn’t easy in there for him, but he kept trying to find a way.
“It takes a real man to do that… but he came up against a real fighter tonight.”
After the bout, which was carried live to Netflix’s approximately 300 million subscribers, Joshua called out long-time rival Tyson Fury.
“If you’re a real bad man, don’t do all that talking, ‘AJ this, AJ that,’ let’s see you in the ring and talk with your fists,” he said.
Paul, who stepped up from cruiserweight for the bout, has brought a new audience to boxing through his fights and his promotion company, Most Valuable Promotions. However, he was no match for Joshua’s size, strength, and experience.
“I think my jaw is broken,” Paul said before spitting out blood.
“It’s definitely broke but man, that was good. A nice little ass-whooping from one of the best to ever do it … I’m going to come back and get a world championship belt at some point.”
Others were not convinced.
“This is a clown show,” former UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling posted on X.
Paul frustrated Joshua, and viewers, by diving at the Briton’s legs repeatedly and ending up on the canvas in the early rounds.
“Why are people complaining? You knew what you were gonna get,” former mixed martial artist and podcaster Josh Thomson posted. “If you thought anything else you were in denial.”
U.S. President Donald Trump said he had tuned into the fight.
“On the plane I just got to watch the Jake Paul Fight, and he did really well, especially as a display of GREAT Courage against a very talented and large Anthony Joshua,” he posted on Truth Social.
“Fantastic Entertainment, but Kudos to Jake for his Stamina, and frankly, Ability, against a much bigger man!”
-Reuters
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Oleksandr Usyk will put his WBC heavyweight title belt on the line against Dutch kickboxer Rico Verhoeven on May 23 at Egypt’s Pyramids of Giza, Ring Magazine announced on Friday.
The Ukrainian three-times undisputed champion holds the IBF, WBA and WBC titles after vacating the WBO belt.
The 39-year-old has not boxed since beating Britain’s Daniel Dubois at London’s Wembley Stadium last July.
“I respect his (Verhoeven’s) journey – he’s truly the ‘King of Kickboxing’. But this is boxing – a different game, with its own rules and its own kings,” said Usyk, who has a 24-0 record.
“I’m ready and looking forward to meeting him in the ring. It’s going to be a unique experience for both of us, and I know the fans are excited too. A big night is coming.”
The ‘Glory in Giza’ fight will be streamed live on DAZN.
“I spent 12 years as the undisputed heavyweight kickboxing champion and accomplished everything I set out to accomplish,” Verhoeven, 36, told The Ring.
“But staying at the top for that long didn’t take away from the hunger; it strengthened it. Usyk is the undisputed champion in boxing. That’s the kind of challenge that motivated me. Undisputed versus undisputed.”
Verhoeven has sparred in the past with former champion Tyson Fury and had one professional bout in 2014, which he won by a knockout.
-Reuters
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Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao will face off in a professional rematch at the Sphere in Las Vegas in September, with the bout streaming globally on Netflix, the fighters and promoters announced on Monday.
The fight marks Mayweather’s return from retirement and will be the first professional boxing match held at the Sphere.
Mayweather, who holds a perfect 50-0 record with 27 knockouts, defeated Pacquiao in their 2015 encounter dubbed the “Fight of the Century.”
That bout generated a record 4.6 million pay-per-view buys and a $72 million live gate at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
“I already fought and beat Manny once. This time will be the same result,” Mayweather said in a statement.
Pacquiao, whose record stands at 62-8-3 with 39 knockouts, expressed confidence he would hand Mayweather his first professional loss.
“I want Floyd to live with the one loss on his professional record and always remember who gave it to him,” the Filipino fighter said.
The rematch will stream to Netflix’s more than 325 million subscribers worldwide, continuing the platform’s push into live boxing.
The streaming platform has recently broadcast several high-profile fights, including Jake Paul versus Mike Tyson, which the company said drew 108 million live global viewers
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Former multi-weight world boxing champion Floyd Mayweather will come out of retirement this year for his first official fight in nearly a decade, his new promotion CSI Sports/Fight Sports said on Friday, though his opponent has yet to be decided.
Before his official return, Mayweather is set for an exhibition bout with fellow boxing great Mike Tyson, with the date and venue still to be announced.
“I still have what it takes to set more records in the sport of boxing – from my upcoming Mike Tyson event to my next professional fight afterwards – no one will generate a bigger gate, have a larger global broadcast audience and generate more money with each event – than my events,” Mayweather, 48, said in a statement on his new promotion’s website.
It will mark the American’s fourth comeback from retirement, following previous exits in 2007, 2015 and 2017 — the last after beating Conor McGregor to extend his record to 50-0. He has, however, fought several exhibitions since.
Across a three-decade career, Mayweather defeated many of his era’s top fighters and headlined the three highest‑grossing bouts in history, against Manny Pacquiao, McGregor and Canelo Alvarez.
-Reuters
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