Anthony Joshua exposed Jake Paul’s boxing facade with brutal efficiency on December 19, 2025, systematically dismantling the YouTube star before delivering a sixth-round knockout at Miami’s Kaseya Center. The former two-time heavyweight champion revealed what legitimate boxing fans knew all along—Paul’s carefully curated record against aging MMA fighters and journeymen bore no resemblance to facing actual elite-level competition.
Ringside Report’s Dave Simon and Johnny North provided live commentary as the facade crumbled in real time. Paul’s conditioning failed. His defense collapsed. His vaunted power proved nonexistent against championship-caliber opposition. After five rounds of backpedaling, desperate takedown attempts, and repeated falling to avoid punishment, Joshua cornered his overmatched opponent and ended the charade with a devastating right hook that sent Paul crashing to the canvas, unable to beat the referee’s count.
“Jake Paul really was nowhere. He was nowhere in that fight, completely outclassed,” Dave called it immediately after the stoppage. The exposure was complete.
The Controversial Build-Up: Injuries, Rumors, and Netflix Hype
In the weeks leading up to fight night, controversy swirled around Paul’s condition and whether the bout would actually happen. Former heavyweight champion Bermane Stiverne claimed the fight was off, alleging Paul suffered an orbital injury during sparring with Lawrence Okolie. Photos showing Paul with a bruised eye and what observers claimed was a displaced nose fueled the speculation.
Paul dismissed the cancellation rumors as “ridiculous” while simultaneously admitting significant damage during camp. “It’s getting more crooked, brother. I’m not gonna lie: sparring the heavyweights, my nose has moved a couple of millimetres this camp. A guy by the name of Frank Sanchez definitely cracked it a bit,” Paul told Pat McAfee, basically confirming the visual evidence everyone could see.
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The question wasn’t whether Paul took damage in camp—he openly admitted it. The question was whether that damage would derail a fight worth tens of millions of dollars. Spoiler alert: financial incentives won that argument, as they always do in boxing.
Paul’s Prediction: Knockout Victory in Rounds Five or Six
Despite facing his first genuine test as a professional boxer, Paul projected characteristic confidence in his pre-fight assessment. His coaches claimed the sparring had been more demanding than the actual fight would be.
“We brought in world-champion heavyweight sparring partners, guys who are 270 lbs, 250 lbs,” Paul explained. “My coaches tell me the sparring I’m doing right now is gonna be harder than the actual fight night. They don’t lie to me.”
Paul’s specific prediction? “I don’t think he can knock me out, because he’s not gonna be able to line up his shots properly. I see what it is, and I think it’ll end in the fifth or sixth round.”
That prediction about rounds five and six proved eerily prescient—just not in the way Paul intended. Joshua didn’t need to line up perfect shots when Paul’s conditioning collapsed, leaving him stationary in the corner.
Live from Ringside Report: Pre-Fight Atmosphere
As fight night approached, the Ringside Report crew settled in for what would become nearly two hours of unfiltered boxing commentary. Dave Simon opened the show with typical directness before acknowledging the special programming: “Hey, Gunther has retired John Cena. It happened. We’re gonna talk about it.” But that wrestling discussion never materialized.
“Caught off guard there a little bit. Watching this boxing. There’s boxing happening. Johnny North is here. He’s ready,” Dave explained as the show pivoted to full boxing mode.
Anderson Silva Delivers the Opening Statement
Before the main event, Anderson Silva provided the perfect warm-up with a knockout victory over Tyron Woodley. “Anderson Silva knocked out Tyron Woodley with a big uppercut in the second round of his boxing match,” Dave reported. “That was really cool.”
Johnny North offered congratulations: “Let’s just say congrats to Anderson Silva and a big win tonight.”
The Silva knockout set expectations for what everyone hoped would be a similarly decisive finish in the main event. Boxing fans had endured enough Jake Paul decisions against carefully selected opposition—they wanted violence, and Silva’s uppercut suggested the evening might deliver.
Quebec Representation: Leïla Beaudoin on the Big Stage
The co-main event featured Leïla Beaudoin from Rivière-du-Loup, Quebec, against Alycia Baumgardner from Fremont, Ohio. Dave showed particular interest in the local angle: “Nice to see a boxer from Rivière-du-Loup. A female boxer is making big money on this card. She must be getting paid, hopefully, making a decent payday for this.”
“Some Quebec flavour on this. Why not? Fight capital of Canada,” Dave added, acknowledging Montreal’s rich combat sports history.
Johnny North reflected on that history: “That’s been a while since it had big boxing shows. I remember I’ve seen a couple at Place Bell, actually.”
Dave reminisced about his own experiences: “The most fun boxing show I ever went to was at Jarry Park at the tennis stadium. It was outdoors… Close to 20, maybe. No, less than 20, but maybe 15 to 20 years ago in that range, I’d say. But I remember that being fun. Big open-air tennis stadium where they do the tennis stuff at Jarry Park. They did boxing there. It was cool.”
The conversation briefly touched on Bell Centre boxing history, with Dave admitting his producer reminded him of shows he’d apparently forgotten: “My producer is telling me that he went with me to the Bell Centre boxing. Okay, I guess I have been to the Bell Centre for boxing. I don’t know, man. I’ve seen so many combat sports in my life, it’s hard to remember all of them. I’ve been to a lot of shows.”
Rounds One Through Four: The Slow Build Nobody Wanted
The opening rounds of Jake Paul vs Anthony Joshua delivered exactly what pessimists feared—tentative boxing with Paul backpedaling and Joshua measuring distance. While the transcript doesn’t capture Dave’s commentary from these early rounds, his later remarks made the assessment clear.
“The first four rounds were not [entertaining], but that’s fine,” Dave would later acknowledge. “Sometimes you know a fight’s got to build and lead up to something, but it was feeling like it was going to lead up to nothing.”
Paul’s strategy in the early going appeared to be pure survival—move backwards, avoid exchanges, and hope Joshua’s age and recent chin issues would create an opening. Joshua, for his part, seemed content to stalk and measure, perhaps holding back his power or waiting for Paul to tire.
That’s the thing about fighting a former two-time world champion: they understand pacing. They know when to apply pressure and when to conserve energy. They’ve been in championship rounds. Paul, despite all his carefully curated professional experience, had never faced anyone who understood the sport at this level.
Round Five: The Tide Turns
“Round five was the best round of the fight,” Dave declared, his commentary capturing the moment when Joshua finally found his range and Paul’s conditioning began to fail.
“Jake Paul seriously slowed down. He landed one that hurt Jake Paul, and his leg went wobbly, and he’s landed a few more. Oh there’s a couple. Oh get him. Oh Jake Paul survives. Jake Paul survives the round. They got three more though.”
The pattern that would define Paul’s collapse had emerged. “They got me back into it. Something is going on now. This is a little more fun. Jake Paul was taking vicious shots to the head.”
Dave noticed the referee’s intervention becoming more serious: “The referee actually started going ‘I’m counting you now when you’re falling because you’re getting hit, your legs are wobbly. This counts. You’ve got to stop doing this. You’re going to get knocked out.'”
“Joshua landed a couple of good ones in that round. Good round for Anthony Joshua. They showed us Jake Paul land a good one, but Joshua landed a really good one on the counter.”
A crucial observation from the live chat added another dimension: “Jason thinks Joshua’s holding back. He might be, which sucks.”
That assessment would prove prescient. Even when pulling his punches, Joshua was landing shots that visibly hurt Paul. What would happen when he stopped holding back?
THE REF HAS SEEN ENOUGH!!!
— Netflix Sports (@netflixsports) December 20, 2025
ANTHONY JOSHUA GETS THE KO AGAINST JAKE PAUL IN ROUND 6! #JakeJoshua pic.twitter.com/m5Y2VJ8to3
Round Six: The Inevitable Conclusion
“Oh that was a good combination from Anthony Joshua. Come on. Oh Jake Paul is wobbly. He just fell on the ropes. Oh and he’s doing the takedown attempt thing again,” Dave called out as Joshua increased the pressure.
The referee gave Paul a standing count: “Give him space. Five, six, seven, eight, get up. Go there. Walk towards me. Can you fight? Kind of. Let’s go.”
“Joshua was landing good shots now. He might be holding back, but even held back punches from Anthony Joshua are pretty nasty.”
Then came the moment Paul’s chin would be truly tested: “And Jake Paul again pretty done and tired. Oh… oh… I don’t think he was holding back on those shots. He landed a couple of good ones. Jake Paul ate them, though. Jake Paul’s got a decent chin. Because I think I would have fallen asleep to those shots. Those shots were nasty.”
The end came suddenly but not surprisingly: “Good God. Oh… big punches from Joshua. Keep going. Keep going in the corner. Oh, he knocks him down! That was a big right hook from Joshua that dropped Jake Paul. Now he’s getting the count. I don’t know if he’s getting up. He’s trying to get up. The ref knows it’s over. He knocked him out. He knocked on the sixth round. Hell yeah. Anthony Joshua has knocked out Jake Paul in the sixth round. Big right hook dropped him and stopped him. Thank you. Good night.”
“There we go. Finally,” Dave concluded, his satisfaction evident.
Jake Paul after getting KOd by Anthony Joshua: "I think my jaw is broken." 😭 #JakeJoshua pic.twitter.com/gVexEqR4sq
— Netflix Sports (@netflixsports) December 20, 2025
The Immediate Aftermath: Respect and Reality
Johnny North’s reaction carried a hint of mockery: “Sure. I’m sure somewhere Jake is very sad right now.”
But Dave offered measured respect for Paul’s effort: “Jake Paul survived five and a half rounds with the boy. Good job.”
Johnny pressed on the performance quality: “I mean, it doesn’t sound like it was very impressive whatsoever though.”
“Well fifth and sixth round were fun,” Dave countered, finding positives in the finish.
Even Juan Soto’s presence at ringside brought a smile: “Juan Soto is there. He likes it. So that’s good enough. If Soto is smiling, I’m smiling. Soto shuffle.”
Dave’s final assessment of the entertainment value proved pragmatic: “Yeah I mean good. Good. Yeah we got a finish. That’s what I want. I wanted to see Jake Paul get knocked out. Jake Paul got dropped, couldn’t answer the 10 count, got knocked out. The fight was mostly bad but I’ll take four rounds of bad for two rounds of good.”
“It was an eight-round fight. They only went five and a half. You know it got finished in the sixth. The fifth and sixth rounds were very entertaining. The first four rounds were not but that’s fine. Sometimes you know a fight’s got to build and lead up to something but it was feeling like it was going to lead up to nothing. But Anthony Joshua turned the gas on a little bit and the fire was lit.”
Technical Analysis: What the Knockout Revealed
Dave’s ringside commentary captured the technical reality of what happened when a YouTube celebrity faced an elite professional. “Jake Paul really was nowhere. He was nowhere in that fight, completely outclassed and finished as expected, but good on him for trying. You know, stepped into the batter’s box and took a swing. He missed, but he stepped in there against a 102 mph fastball and he ate it. Good for him.”
The fight exposed several critical gaps in Paul’s game:
- Conditioning Collapse: Paul’s ability to move and avoid exchanges completely disappeared after round four. The careful matchmaking against aging opposition had never tested his gas tank against someone who could maintain pressure for multiple rounds.
- Defensive Limitations: The “fall down” strategy that Dave repeatedly called out—“Jake Paul keeps doing that fall down thing because now he’s getting punched”—represented a fundamental defensive failure. When you’re getting punched and falling to avoid further damage, you’re not boxing anymore.
- Power Deficit: “He did not put Anthony Joshua in any kind of danger. He was not a threat in this fight whatsoever,” Dave assessed. Paul never landed anything that made Joshua respect his power or change his approach.
- Experience Gap: Joshua understood when to apply pressure, when to conserve energy, and how to close the show. Paul understood how to survive until he couldn’t survive anymore.
Props for Taking the Fight
Despite the one-sided nature of the bout, Dave offered genuine respect for Paul’s willingness to step up in competition. A viewer comment captured this sentiment: “Jason Pete says I hate these freak show fights but props to Jake Paul for doing it.”
“I agree,” Dave responded. “I mean props to Jake Paul for doing this fight. I think you know it takes balls to step into the ring with Anthony. It takes balls to step into the ring with anybody. But to step into the ring with Anthony Joshua is like another level. So good on him.”
“He took a beating. He got knocked out. He took legit shots from a legit heavyweight and proved that he’s nowhere near that level. He was not in the fight. At any point he did not put Anthony Joshua in any kind of danger. He was not a threat in this fight whatsoever. He backpedaled. He avoided the fight. He did weird takedown attempts. He fell down a lot and eventually he got stopped. Eventually, he got tired. Couldn’t run around anymore. Got cornered. Literally put in the corner and hit with big heavy punches including a big right cross and put him down. There’s a left hook and then there was a right cross I think. Yeah straight cross put him down right across the chin.”
The baseball analogy Dave employed earlier proved apt: “Stepped into the batter’s box and took a swing. He missed but he stepped in there against a 102 mph fastball and he ate it. Good for him.”
What’s Next for Jake Paul’s Boxing Career
The knockout raises serious questions about Paul’s path forward. Johnny North speculated: “And he’ll come back from this. I expect again maybe you won’t be able to climb up the rankings as much as he wanted to. But rank sure no—”
Dave cut him off with reality: “Rankings? For him? He’s not in a real division. He’s in his own freak show league. He was supposed to fight Gervonta Davis tonight. A guy like half his size. He pulled out for some reason. I mean maybe he’ll fight Gervonta Davis next. Who knows. He doesn’t fight… it’s not real. None of it is real. I mean it’s real fights but it’s just like not a division. It’s like a freak show. It’s sideshow stuff.”
Johnny suggested the promotional strategy moving forward: “Well it’s for his sake right. He would believe oh he’s the top guy in the world because he did this and he did that. Now this puts him down a little bit. So now he’s going to get another freak show fight more than likely to help build them up again. So he’s right back.”
Dave found optimism in the knockout itself: “It’s admirable. He got knocked out which is what people want to see. If you come back after a knockout I think people like you for it. Comeback story. Everybody loves a comeback story.”
That’s the cynical truth about Jake Paul’s boxing career: the knockout might actually help his brand. People tuned in hoping to see him get knocked out. He delivered that product. Now the comeback narrative writes itself. Fight someone safe, rebuild confidence, claim the Joshua loss proved his legitimacy, and run it back with another aging name.
Boxing’s Credibility Crisis: When Spectacle Trumps Sport
The Jake Paul phenomenon represents everything legitimate boxing fans hate about the current state of the sport. A YouTube celebrity with a 12-1 record built against opponents with a combined .203 winning percentage gets a main event slot against a former unified champion. Netflix pays massive money for exclusive streaming rights. The Kaseya Center books the venue. Advertising gets sold. Undercard fighters fund training camps around this date.
The financial pressure to make this fight happen—regardless of whether it represented legitimate competition—proved overwhelming. That’s not cynicism; that’s documented history. Boxing has always prioritized the show over competitive integrity when enough money sits on the table.
Joshua came into this fight following a stoppage loss to Daniel Dubois in September 2024. His chin looked questionable in recent outings. His confidence seemed shaken. Yet even a compromised Anthony Joshua proved levels above Jake Paul’s carefully curated opposition.
What do you expect? Boxing’s promotional ecosystem rewards spectacle over sport. Paul brings casual eyeballs. Joshua brings name recognition. Netflix writes the check. Whether the fight represents legitimate competition becomes secondary to whether it generates revenue.
The Combat Sports Authority’s Final Verdict
Come on—this fight happened exactly as anyone with boxing knowledge predicted. Paul showed heart by taking the fight, but heart doesn’t close the massive skill gap between a social media personality and an elite professional. Joshua’s power, experience, and understanding of ring generalship systematically broke down Paul’s gameplan until the inevitable knockout arrived.
The first four rounds bored everyone. Rounds five and six delivered enough action to justify the time investment. Paul’s chin held up longer than expected. Joshua eventually stopped holding back and delivered the finish. Boxing got its spectacle, Paul got his payday, and legitimate fans got their knockout.
That’s boxing in 2025. The only guarantee is uncertainty—except when YouTube stars fight former world champions. Then the guarantee is a knockout, even if it takes six rounds to arrive.
Where I might be wrong: Paul’s team claims the sparring injuries and camp damage prove he’s training at an elite level. Maybe that broken nose and those sparring beatings represent genuine improvement rather than evidence of being overmatched in preparation. Maybe his conditioning failure resulted from weight cutting or illness rather than fundamental fitness deficiencies. Maybe Joshua was holding back even more than Dave suspected, and a fully unleashed AJ would have ended this in round one.
But probably not. Levels exist in professional boxing. December 19 reminded everyone where those levels are—and where Jake Paul stands relative to them.
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