Anthony Joshua accused of ‘shameful’ performance against Joshua Paul to taint ‘legacy’

Anthony Joshua has come in for criticism over his performance against Jake Paul, having taken six rounds to stop the YouTuber-turned-boxer.

Joshua, a former two-time world heavyweight champion, fought Paul in a professional heavyweight fight on Friday. That meant knockouts were allowed, with many fans craving an early KO defeat for Paul in Miami.

• Follow live: Joshua vs Paul fallout as AJ finally stops YouTuber

But that specific result did not come, with Joshua struggling to pin down the shorter and evasive man in the first few rounds – in a larger-than-usual ring, admittedly. Paul, 28, repeatedly dived at Joshua’s legs, too, seemingly to avoid damage and buy time.

Still, Joshua went on to score four knockdowns in the middle rounds of the scheduled eight, wrapping up victory in the sixth frame. Paul even claimed that he had suffered a broken jaw.

But Joshua acknowledged that some viewers would be disappointed, saying in his post-fight interview at the Kaseya Center: “I appreciate everyone in this venue. It wasn’t the best performance. The end goal was to get him, pin him down and hurt him. That’s what people wanted, that was on my mind. It took longer than expected.

“Now, Jake Paul has done really well tonight. He got up, time and time again. It was difficult for me in there. We give them their respect, he tried and tried, but he came up against a real fighter in there.

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“I saw Eddie [Hearn, promoter] saying: ‘Get him now!’ I said I’d take his soul, see it leaving his body round after round. I said it, and it happened. I understand the psychology of fighting.”

Nevertheless, Joshua was subjected to heavy criticism online.

Journalist Kevin Iole tweeted, “He won’t with $100 million on the table to fight [Tyson] Fury, but AJ ought to retire. That was an epically bad performance.”

Promoter Lou DiBella tweeted: “The guy who should feel ashamed right now is Anthony Joshua ... that was his legacy. Paul is a great businessman. AJ doesn’t give two s***s about #boxing.”

Former pro boxer Paulie Malignaggi said in a video on X: “Anthony Joshua honestly should have probably cut off the ring a little bit better, that’s my one criticism of Anthony Joshua. He’s never really had the best feet.”

However, Malignaggi cut AJ some slack, adding: “But honestly, what do you want the guy to do?”

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Journalist Chris Mannix also took to X (formerly Twitter), writing during the bout: “This is horrifying.” Yet his criticism seemed to be more of the fight than of Joshua’s performance.

Similarly, the referee even said during the contest, “The fans did not pay to see this crap,” seemingly addressing Paul due to his repeated dives at Joshua’s legs.

Joshua, in his post-fight interview, played down the idea that he had tainted his legacy by even taking the fight, saying: “I don’t care about legacy, it lasts about 50 years, then it’s done.

“This is what I decided to do. I will do it until I can’t no more. All we can do is give my best.”