Anthony Joshua vs. Jake Paul key takeaways: Paul finally gets what’s coming to him — are we happy now?

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Anthony Joshua delivered the knockout he promised against Jake Paul in their heavyweight bout Friday on Netflix. It just took him a little longer than he thought, with the frustratingly fleet-footed Paul lasting until the sixth round.

What, if anything, can be taken from this latest Netflix boxing joint, complete with all the MVP bells and whistles? Here are the five key takeaways from Anthony Joshua vs. Jake Paul:

1. Here’s the problem with taking a fight you’re expected to win via immediate devastation: There’s only one way to meet expectations and many, many ways to fall short of them. Such is the dilemma Joshua found himself in tonight. He didn’t knock Paul out in the first round or even the first half of the fight. To many, that right there is a failure. That he looked slow and awkward at times will only further confirm for those people that Joshua is apparently a fraud and a bum.

Is it fair? Not really. But that’s the way it goes with a fight like this. The trade-off is that you get to make millions of dollars while never really being in any serious physical peril. So that’s pretty nice. And ultimately, probably worth it.

2. Jake Paul says his jaw is most likely broken. The way that last right hand landed, I’d say it’s a pretty safe bet. And right before Christmas too. Guess you’d better go ahead and throw some cookies in a blender for that man. He may be drinking his meals through the first few weeks of 2026.

What we have to ask ourselves is whether or not that’s punishment enough. Because, let’s be honest, the whole appeal of this fight was the promise of great bodily harm. They might as well have put it in lights outside the Kaseya Center: “Tonight only, Jake Paul finally gets what’s coming to him!” There was the sense that what Paul owed his audience was blood and lots of it. His own, preferably. Joshua’s, in the event of a miracle. But there had to be blood and pain and suffering. The gods demand a sacrifice after all this clowning.

And, after a stuttering start, we got that. Eventually. Paul ended the night conscious and in possession of a portion of his wits, which will disappoint some. But give him credit for getting up again and again, knowing that his gas tank was emptying and his odds were getting worse. In that sense, at least, he seemed to know what he owed us — and he put his body on the line to deliver it. He deserves some modicum of respect for that. Though, if he doesn’t get it, the big pile of money will suffice for now.

3. Oh yeah, Anderson Silva is still out here doing it. The former UFC champ is 50 years old. As in halfway to a century. And he still has enough skill and swag to tap his own ankle before going clean upside Tyron Woodley’s head with an uppercut on the undercard. 

Sure, he’s a long way from his glory days. So is Woodley, even if his weren’t quite as glorious. But those of us old enough to peek over the hill and see that half-century mark sneaking up on us know it’s impressive just to see a man move that way on joints that are no longer under factory warranty.

4. But back to Paul for a moment, were does the grand experiment go from here? It had to get to this point eventually. He was hand-picking his opponents, trolling us all by stacking up wins we felt he did not deserve, gradually increasing our appetite to see him finally bite off more than he could chew.

Sooner or later, he had to give us the satisfaction of watching him drown in the deep end. But now what? It’s hard to keep cranking up the volume after getting knocked out by a heavyweight, but probably even harder to go back to picking on blown-up, overaged middleweights. Paul is a boxing overachiever, no question about it, but at age 28 it kind of feels like he’s peaked. At least now he’ll have some mandatory time off to think it over. One thing he’s always excelled at is finding new ways to keep us interested, often against our will.

5. Which leads me to this final question: What did we really think we’d get out of this? It’s a question mostly aimed at those in the audience who felt angrily disappointed with what was, in fairness, not exactly boxing’s finest hour. The thing is, that has never been Paul’s sales pitch. It hasn’t even been Joshua’s in recent years.

This was the combat sports version of fast food. It’s cheap and easy with a certain decadent appeal, but you know even as you’re pulling into the drive-thru that this is not a choice you’re making because you believe it’ll make you feel good in the morning. In that sense, whatever shame and regret you feel in the aftermath is mostly your own fault. Joshua’s not the only one capable of being victimized by flawed expectations.