Anthony Joshua proved to be the perfect gentleman following his brutal knockout of Jake Paul in Miami on Friday night
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| Anthony Joshua before his win over Jake Paul (Image: (Giorgio VIERA / AFP via Getty Images)) |
Anthony Joshua apologised to Jake Paul’s mum after his brutal knockout victory over the YouTuber-turned-boxer. Paul took on former heavyweight world champion Joshua in Miami on Friday night.
Joshua, who is reportedly close to agreeing to a long-awaited fight against Tyson Fury in Riyadh in 2026, was made to work far harder than he would have liked to extinguish the challenge of Paul. However, the fight was waved off in the sixth round after a barrage of shots from Joshua.
The American has since undergone surgery after his jaw was broken in two places by the final blow. And Paul's mother, Pam Stepnick, has praised Joshua for apologising to her personally after his victory.
"Even Anthony Joshua had some class and apologised to me, essentially," Stepnick said on the Impaulsive podcast. "He worked his way through the crowd and came up to me and said: 'Mom, just know it's just boxing. It's just the fight game'.
She was less forgiving towards promoter Eddie Hearn, though. "As a mom, my aggression comes out too," she said. "I wanted to get in that ring and punch Eddie Hearn, for instance... because I don't like his smug face.
"Jake's over there struggling and he's sitting over there smiling like the cat who swallowed the canary. Guess what? Did he f***ing get in the ring?
Before she added: "Jake chose to get into the ring with a humongous guy, that's on Jake. I believe that Jake really thought he could knock him (Joshua) out so it made me feel very confident and I knew God was in his corner.
“And he still was, because this could have turned out even worse than it did, so God really was on our shoulders. And to get through the process of getting into the ER, having surgery, out of the ER, discharged to home within 12 hours, thank you to the angels."
While Paul said: “Double broken jaw. Give me Canelo in 10 days. I’m feeling good, that was fun. I love this sport. I gave it my all… I had a blast.
“Anthony’s a great fighter, I got my ass beat but that’s what this sport’s about. I think my jaw is broke by the way… it’s definitely broke. A nice ass whooping from one of the best to ever do it.
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| Jake Paul after being knocked down by Anthony Joshua(Image: (Giorgio VIERA / AFP via Getty Images)) |
“We’re going to heal the broken jaw, fight someone my weight and go for the cruiserweight world title.”
Asked whether his 15-month spell out of the ring since losing to Daniel Dubois had played a part in him initially struggling, Joshua replied: “I need to give this guy a systematic breakdown.
“I said I’m going to take his soul, I said I’m going to see it leaving his body round after round. When the time comes, some people are there to get knocked out. I said it and that’s exactly what happened.
“I just took my time and I got the job done within the time limit of eight rounds. I refuse to get hurt, I refuse to acknowledge getting hurt.
“As soon as he hit me, I stood there and I tried to hit him back. At the end of the day there’s going to be one winner and it’s me tonight.”
- Connor O'Neill
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