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Referee calls out Jake Paul for antics vs. Anthony Joshua: 'The fans didn't pay to see this'

Grant Grubbs Profile Pictureby: Grant Grubbs13 hours agogrant_grubbs_

It only took four rounds of the Jake Paul-Anthony Joshua fight for the referee to step in. The fight wasn’t over, but the referee wasn’t happy with the quality of the bout.

After dancing around the outside of the ring early against Joshua, Paul began to show fatigue early in the fourth round. His exhaustion reared its ugly head when he repeatedly fell while trying to clinch Joshua. With only seven seconds remaining in the round, the referee brought the fighters together and gave Paul a harsh warning.

“The fans didn’t pay to see this crap,” the referee said. “If you’re gonna fight, you’re gonna fight.”

In fairness to Jake Paul, he wasn’t expected to win. Joshua is a two-time heavyweight world champion and entered the bout as a heavy favorite. Nonetheless, Paul didn’t back down.

The former YouTuber was knocked down numerous times in the fifth and sixth rounds, only to return to his feet. Yet, after Joshua delivered a crushing right cross in the sixth round, Paul was unable to continue.

After the fight, Paul said the punch broke his jaw. Luckily for him, the Ohio native shouldn’t have any issues affording a surgery to mend his injury.

The reported purse for the fight was $184 million, with each fighter taking home $92 million. Further, it’s possible the purse was even greater. In a tweet in November, Jake Paul claimed the purse was $267 million.

With the loss, Jake Paul fell to 12-2 in his professional boxing career. He entered the fight on a six-fight win streak. Paul’s only previous heavyweight fight was against Mike Tyson, who was 58 years old at the time of the bout. Paul won via decision.

While Anthony Joshua has far more boxing experience than Paul—boasting a 28-4 professional record—he was coming off a loss. Before Friday, Joshua’s last fight was in September 2024, when he was knocked out by Daniel Dubois in the fifth round.

It’s unclear what’s next for Joshua. However, he called out former heavyweight world champion Tyson Fury following the fight. Meanwhile, Paul said he will continue to fight, but is expecting to take a lengthy break from the ring.