Jake Paul was once again terrible to watch against Anthony Joshua
Jake Paul stepped into the ring with Anthony Joshua last night, suffering a sixth-round knockout in a fight that was absurdly poor, where Paul was evasive from the opening bell and continued until exhaustion set in, at which point he started attempting to tackle Joshua. Throughout the match, Paul, 28, never appeared to genuinely want to engage with Joshua. Even when he gestured and made faces from a relatively safe distance, there was no desire to actually fight AJ.
Logically speaking, this strategy makes sense. Anthony Joshua is a genuine professional boxer and an imposing figure. Jake Paul is strong and not particularly small, unless compared to AJ, which is the premise of this matchup. However, he is not a skilled professional boxer. Thus, the sensible approach for Jake Paul, should he decide to enter the ring, was to maintain distance from Joshua, aim to land a few punches, prevent AJ from doing much, perhaps secure some rounds, survive all eight, and hope to claim at least five. This was discussed in the preview, so it wasn’t unexpected that this would be his strategy.
Essentially, Jake Paul needed to turn the contest into a non-fight altogether. He aimed to accumulate rounds where one might say, “Well, he landed two punches, so I suppose that’s better.” The Netflix commentary team understood their task, as Mauro Ranallo and his colleagues eagerly tried to convince viewers that Paul had clearly and definitively won the first round by connecting on 2 of 10 punches while Joshua managed a paltry 2 of 11.
Paul was able to stick to his strategy for a while until fatigue set in, which was also foreseeable. His stamina has never been his strong suit in previous matches. Jake was on the move last night against Anthony Joshua. This wasn’t “footwork”; he was avoiding contact in that enormous ring, which was designed to give him ample space.
It was bound to wear Paul out, and it indeed did, but he had no other viable options for winning. What he was doing didn’t provide him with a solid opportunity, but it did present the best and really only chance he possessed.
His display last night was absurd and nearly unwatchable, and he shouldn’t receive any special recognition for a fight where he became so fatigued from evading contact that he ended up attempting roughly the same number of takedowns as punches landed. Jake wishes to be regarded as a professional boxer and receive acknowledgment at that level. If we acknowledge his performance from last night, it’s quite straightforward: No boxer who fought as he did would earn admiration or respect from fans. The bout would have been labeled dreadful, and his performance would have faced strong criticism. The history of boxing contains no shortage of terrible fights; check the reactions to a few if you need examples. Robert Easter Jr vs Rances Barthelemy from a few years back comes to mind if you want a place to start.
And no fight so clearly a mismatch, coupled with such a painfully ugly viewing experience, would be well received by either fans or critics.
Jake Paul won’t have to face that backlash, of course. He will always attract attention when he competes. However, that attention will wane with time — in fact, it has already diminished over time. He mentioned last night that it’s been a solid six years of doing this, and he’s correct; the reality is there hasn’t been much genuine advancement in his skills. Yet, those who support Paul’s boxing endeavors have no concern that he is “difficult to watch,” as they don’t perceive it that way. For them, most boxing is unappealing since they lack interest in it, and his fame has not sparked a surge in broader interest in the sport of boxing, contrary to his claims.
Jake Paul is not deserving of any additional special praise for what occurred last night. You can and should appreciate that he stepped into the ring; you can fairly state he’s a tough individual because he genuinely is — he faced a broken jaw and was out of energy but still continued to rise.
Nevertheless, that was an awful performance last night. The fight was painful to watch. A significant portion of Jake’s promotion hinges on him being “entertaining,” but that perception tends to vanish once the bell rings and the press conferences conclude. It’s entirely appropriate to express your discomfort regarding Jake Paul’s efforts against Anthony Joshua or in most of his other matches, just as you have felt at ease doing so when Guillermo Rigondeaux moves around the ring, and for precisely the same reasons. It’s excruciating to watch. That’s the genuine analysis of boxing in all of this.
Published: 2025-12-20 21:06:00
source: www.badlefthook.com
