Anthony Joshua vs Jake Paul official scorecards show the result was a whitewash
All three ringside judges scored the bout 50-43
Former two-time unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua was up on every scorecard before his sixth-round knockout victory over Jake Paul earlier this month.
The Brit returned to the ring for the first time since his brutal knockout defeat to fellow countryman Daniel Dubois in September 2024. After taking the longest time away from the ring over his amateur and pro career, Joshua was merely using the controversial clash with the YouTuber-turned-boxer as a warm-up to get some crucial minutes under his belt ahead of a big 2026 in the ring.
The contest was so dull and lacking that referee Chris Young had to have a stern word with both boxers for not giving the fans what they paid for.
Finally the fight caught fire in the fifth-round when Paul stopped running around as much allowing Joshua to get close enough to land on his foe, dropping him twice.
Paul heard the bell to survive to the sixth stanza, but AJ soon stopped the social media sensation with a brutal right hand just minutes later, which ended up breaking the American’s jaw in two places.
Paul immediately took himself to the hospital after the fight and was forced to eat Christmas dinner through a straw having undergone surgery for his badly broken jaw.
The three judges scoring the fight were David Sutherland, Steve Weisfeld and Michael Tate.
R1: 10-9
R2: 10-9
R3: 10-9
R4: 10-9
R5: 10-7
All three judges scored every round in favour of Joshua, including a 10-7 round in the fifth after Joshua had dropped his rival multiple times. The sixth also showed a 10-7 round, but that had no effect on the fight whatsoever after the former two-time unified heavyweight world champion stopped his adversary with a bonecruching right cross to halt matters clinically.
The official scorecards dismiss Paul’s claims that he won at least two of the rounds.
Despite getting back into the win column, the 36-year-old from Watford was left disappointed by his display in Miami, stating, “I needed to do better, It’s a win, but it’s not a success. I feel my coach expects more from me, and I expect more from myself. But what can we do? I can’t live off of that win.”
He added, “So, yeah, I’m not happy. I had boxing on my back today, and that is what it was really. I took Jake as serious as I needed to, but most importantly, I take myself as serious as I need to. You have to be prepared. One slip-up could cost you in that ring.”
Paul, meanwhile, has since been suspended indefinitely after suffering the first stoppage defeat of his career. It means he will have to be medically cleared to fight again in the state. The 28-year-old from Ohio is expected to take some time away from the ring before making a potential return to competitive action next summer.
Ahead of fight night, reports emerged that Tyson Fury was reportedly preparing to make his comeback for a highly anticipated clash with ‘AJ.’ The pair are expected to top the bill during “a Riyadh Season mega-event” in 2026. Ahead of the long-awaited showdown, both fighters will compete in respective tune-up fights.
However, it may now be very difficult for Joshua to continue any negotiations after he was involved in a fatal car crash in Nigeria on Monday, where two of his close friends and trainers were tragically killed.
Abdul Lateef aka Kevin Ayodele and Sina Ghami were both pronounced dead at the scene, while a badly shaken Joshua was taken to hospital for treatment for minor injuries, which could now be worse than initially thought, with reports of a knee and rib injury.