Jake Paul may have suffered his first career knockout loss at the hands of Anthony Joshua (watch here), but even educated viewers are still questioning the legitimacy of his competitions. Including former UFC champion Israel Adesanya. At a minimum, nobody can argue that Joshua held back in the sixth right, when his right hand broke […]
Jake Paul may have suffered his first career knockout loss at the hands of Anthony Joshua (watch here), but even educated viewers are still questioning the legitimacy of his competitions.
Including former UFC champion Israel Adesanya.
At a minimum, nobody can argue that Joshua held back in the sixth right, when his right hand broke Paul’s jaw in multiple places and shattered his teeth. Believe me, there are easier ways to fake a knockout loss than jaw surgery!
There are, however, questions about whether Joshua carried Paul into the second half of the fight. For his part, “The Problem Child” did his absolute best to avoid trading with the Heavyweight slugger, running away from the pocket and diving towards the legs whenever Joshua got a little too close for comfort. The million dollar question is whether Paul’s avoidance strategy was successful for a time or if Joshua willingly let Paul survive a few rounds before turning up the head.
Ex-UFC champ Aljamain Sterling is former in the latter category, questioning why Joshua failed to cut off the cage and force the action earlier.
“My direct thing when I was watching this was, where are the lines?” Sterling said in a YouTube video (via MMA Junkie). “Because it felt like, you’ve got this Olympic-level, high-caliber level, world-class boxer in Anthony Joshua, who looks like he’s playing with his food, and people are sitting there eating it up like, ‘Oh, Jake’s doing a really good job. He’s moving his feet. He’s staying away.’ I’m just like, ‘Oh, you’re telling me this guy forgot how to cut the ring off?’
“… The way I feel, is that there’s just no way a guy of his caliber, of Anthony Joshua’s caliber of boxing, all the experience he has fighting all these other world-class guys, because we’ve seen how he fights them, and then Jake Paul comes in there, who just relatively started boxing – he’s pretty skilled for a guy at his level, for how long he’s been boxing – but not heavyweight level. Not fighting a guy who’s as well-decorated as Anthony Joshua.”
Unless Joshua himself fesses up or some hidden contract detail is uncovered, there’s no way to prove the allegations in either direction. To my eye, the fight appeared legitimate, and Joshua’s early inactivity can be explained by Paul’s blurring the lines of what is a boxing match. More concisely, it’s really hard to look good against an opponent completely unwilling to engage.
I’m reminded of Brendan Schaub’s jiu-jitsu match against BJJ ace Roberto Abreu from a decade ago — the infamous Schaub Shutdown. Against the much more skilled grappler, Schaub lasted the distance in a terrible match that consisted of him pushing Abreu away, running from the clinch, and never actually hitting the canvas. By absolutely refusing to open up, Schaub made a world-class grappler look pedestrian. This felt like a boxing equivalent, and Paul gamed the system for a bit until the referee started punishing his takedown attempts.
What’s your take, Maniacs?
Category: General Sports
