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By: Sean Crose
Boxing fans are impossible to please. While it’s true Friday’s matchup between former world titlist Anthony Joshua, and the infamous Jake Paul ended in an explosive knockout, fans of the sweet science are unhappy. While it’s true the fight itself was ridiculous and should have never been made (aside from the fact that it was no doubt guaranteed to bring in a ton of money), things went exactly as expected. Scratch that. Things arguably went much better than expected. Paul walked out of the ring with his jaw broken in two places. Considering what could have happened the brash young fighter could have exited the ring Friday night in far worse condition.
Paul took to avoiding Joshua right from the opening bell. The Netflix broadcasting team calling the action – all top notch pros – knew it was their job to showcase the point that Joshua, a former world champion, wasn’t able to catch his man. You didn’t have to see into the future to realize the direction things might have been heading in, however. Although Joshua couldn’t land on Paul, Paul couldn’t land on Joshua much, either. What’s more, Joshua was applying more and more pressure on Paul as the fight went on. Such things tend to drain a fighter – and, sure enough, Paul eventually became sapped of energy. It was entirely by the book after that.
So why are people angry? Paul came in with a plan of hitting and running that didn’t pan out. After that he took a beating without excuses and without ever giving up. He literally had to be knocked out by the towering Joshua, one of the hardest punchers in all of boxing, in order to be stopped. As for Joshua, he fought a man whose main purpose was to avoid him. That’s a challenge to say the least. The fact that he did end up catching and thrashing Paul indicates that Joshua is a fighter who knows what he’s doing, one who has the confidence and patience to bide his time before lowering the figurative boom.
It’s almost embarrassing to have to say, but Joshua-Paul was never going to be Hagler-Hearns. It was just what it promised to be – a spectacle. The fact that Paul desperately avoided a man who ended up breaking his jaw in two spots meant that Joshua would not be able to stop his man in a matter of a round or two. Joshua still delivered, though – as did Paul, who fought on when it was obvious to anyone who could see his face and body movements that he was taking a terrible beating. If a mainstream fight between two high end practitioners is what you wants, you may well get it next year if Joshua and Tyson Fury are finally able to get it on. If not there well still be plenty more high end matches in the weeks and months ahead. Just don’t expect a Joshua – Paul rematch. That circus left town last night when the referee counted Paul out in the 6th round.
