Well, it was fortuitous if you ask me. Short of that miniscule of a chance that Anthony Joshua would get careless and fall prey to a Hail Mary right hand, few gave Jake Paul a chance.
BACKGROUND. This fight came about after Jake Paul’s fight against Gervonta Davis was cancelled. Apparently, feeling the ridicule that came with his decision to finally fight a good professional fighter, albeit one who was about 50 pounds lighter, Paul decided to up the ante and went for the biggest available fighter out there- one who would finally give him some semblance of credibility.
Enter Anthony Joshua (29-4, 26KOs), who last fought 15 months ago, a knockout loss to Daniel Dubois.
At this stage in his career, at 36 years of age and suffering his second stoppage loss, many were questioning his place among the current crop of heavyweights.
He wasn’t good enough to beat the top- tier fighters, as shown by his two losses to Oleksandr Usyk, the loss to Dubois and one shocking knockout loss to Andy Ruiz Jr. But he could manage to get by the likes of Kubrat Pulev, Otto Wallin and avenge the loss to Ruiz.
He seemed on paper to be the perfect opponent for Paul, who styles himself as a disruptor, ready to shock the world.
THE FIGHT. Well, it really wasn’t much of one, at least until AJ finally woke up from his stupor and began to get aggressive in the 4th round. In the fifth round, he scored a knockdown and followed it up with another after landing a right-hand counter.
Paul survived the round but looked like he was already running on fumes. At around the 1:31 mark in the 6th, Joshua was able to trap him in the corner and landed a flush right hand that ended matters as the ref called for the denouement of the fight after Paul failed to beat the count.
MY TAKE. Well, it was bound to happen at some point. Paul initially made his mark by luring old, retired athletes from different sports to a boxing ring. He later transitioned into fighting real champions who have gone to pasture (an ancient Mike Tyson and a washed-up Julio Cesar Chaves Jr.)
This time, he got his comeuppance when he took in more than he could handle in Joshua --who despite being past his prime also- was still serviceable as a good, strong former heavyweight champion who took years building his craft.
At the end of the day, he was just too good, too big and too strong for Paul.
Well, Paul came for the content and he certainly earned loads of it. Not to mention, the financial windfall for having it streamed worldwide on Netflix again.
LAST ROUND. It’s on my eldest daughter, Julie Emmanuelle who celebrates her birthday this week. Cheers tupoys!