Anthony Joshua destroys Jake Paul with a sixth-round knockout

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Well, down goes the YouTuber-turned-boxer.

For so long, after fighting retired MMA and boxing legends way past their prime, Jake Paul finally felt what it meant to go up against a decorated active boxer after suffering a sixth-round knockout loss to former unified world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua.

On Dec. 20, 2025, thousands of boxing fans who flocked to the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida, witnessed a brutal beating—which delighted many—after they had been accusing Paul of mocking the sport of the sweet science.

However, a slow start forced the fans to cheer loudly, as boos rang out after Paul didn’t engage inside, ducking the smoke that Joshua was set to bring with a series of lateral footwork movements.

Every time Joshua prepared to storm close and send a barrage of punches, Paul didn’t think twice and evaded damage by skipping sideways just to survive the round.

The strategy momentarily benefited the YouTube sensation after scoring several jabs, but little did he know that he awakened the beast that Joshua is when the fourth round kicked off.

Due to some mental lapses, Paul forgot to stick to his game plan of surviving and was lured into the middle of the canvas.

As a result, Paul ate a sumptuous angle of hooks followed by Joshua’s signature left straight, which gave him momentum moving forward.

All hell broke loose when the fifth round started, as Joshua floored Paul twice with scored knockdowns.

The first knockdown happened at the 1:35 mark, when Joshua tagged Paul with a devastating left hand. Seconds after the one-hit damage, the British pro star landed another right that knocked the challenger down.

Thirty seconds after the first instance, Joshua was close to sealing the deal after scoring another knockdown, but Paul was able to rise and extend the fight to the curtain-closing round.

Paul’s most embarrassing moment of his boxing career came at the 1:40 mark of the sixth, when Joshua sent a hammer right hand that wrapped up the fight, which also resulted in a broken jaw.

“As I said, I need to give this guy a systematic breakdown,” Joshua said.

“I know what type of fighter he is, and I said I’m going to take his soul, and I said I’m going to see it leaving his body round after round, and when the time comes, some people are just there to get knocked out.”