Jake Paul’s loss to Anthony Joshua ended violently, but not everyone watching felt the story was that simple.
While Joshua ultimately stopped Paul with a crushing right hand in the sixth round, former UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling came away puzzled by how long the contest lasted and how it played out before the finish. Speaking on his YouTube channel, Sterling focused less on the knockout itself and more on what happened in the rounds leading up to it.
“Where are the lines?”
Sterling’s main concern was Joshua’s inability, or unwillingness, to close distance earlier against a much less experienced boxer.
“My direct thing when I was watching this was, where are the lines?” Sterling said. “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.’”
To Sterling, the movement and survival tactics used by Paul did not fully explain why Joshua struggled to trap him.
“I’m just like, ‘Oh, you’re telling me this guy forgot how to cut the ring off?’” Sterling added.
Experience gap raises eyebrows
Joshua entered the fight with years of championship-level experience against elite heavyweights. Sterling believes that background should have shown itself far earlier.
“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,” Sterling said.
While Sterling acknowledged Paul’s improvement and athleticism, he drew a hard line between a developing boxer and a proven heavyweight champion.
“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.”
No accusations, just skepticism
Sterling stopped short of alleging wrongdoing or scripted outcomes. Instead, his critique centered on expectations. From his perspective, the fight looked less like a dominant heavyweight performance and more like a bout that drifted until the ending arrived.
Joshua’s eventual knockout left no doubt about power or damage. Paul suffered a broken jaw and required surgery, eliminating any serious suggestion that the finish itself lacked authenticity. Still, Sterling’s comments reflect a broader reaction among fans who questioned why the contest reached the later rounds at all.
Without confirmation from Joshua or contractual details becoming public, those questions remain unanswered. What is clear is that the fight continues to generate debate long after the final punch landed.
