Jake Paul knew the odds were against him in the bout against Anthony “AJ” Joshua, two-time unified heavyweight world champion and Olympic gold medalist. Paul, the YouTube creator who became a pro boxer, lasted six rounds before Joshua scored a knockout — and broke Paul’s jaw in two places.
The Paul-Joshua matchup was the main event Friday at Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida, with Netflix livestreaming the evening’s lineup of fights. In their fight, Joshua dropped Paul in the fourth, fifth and sixth rounds, ultimately sealing the victory with a sixth-round knockout at 1:31.
In a post on X after the fight, Paul wrote, “Jaw broken. Heart and balls in tact. Time to rest, recover and return to Cruiserweight.” He also posted an X-ray of his “double broken jaw” and added, “Give me Canelo in 10 days.”
In a post-fight press conference, Joshua said, “Jake [did] well while it lasted… I wish that I could have knocked him out at the start, but as we saw tonight, Jake has spirit. He has some heart. He tried his best, and I take my hat off to him because number one, a lot of fighters haven’t got in the ring with me, and Jake did. And secondly, even when he got knocked down, he kept on trying to get up, and I take my hat off to him. So, America, I think you have someone who could potentially, if he still has the heart for it, come back again, dust the dirt off his shoulder, and come again, and maybe sell out this center sometime in 2026.”
According to fight promoter Most Valuable Promotions, the event set a new record as the highest-grossing boxing gate in history of the Kaseya Center. A replay of the Paul-Joshua fight, along with several undercard bouts, is currently available to stream on Netflix.
Those in attendance at the fight included Netflix chief content officer Bela Bajaria, Rick Ross, Benny Safdie, Bert Kreischer, Dave Portnoy, Young Thug, Ryan Serhant, Trippie Red, Tekashi 69, Ty Dolla $ign, Timbaland, Matt Rife, Rory McIlroy, Brandon Marshall, Michael Irvin, Juan Soto, Kay Adams, Shaggy, Antonio Tarver, Rolando Romero, Paulie Malignaggi and MVP’s Shadasia Green, Lucas Bahdi and Wanna Walton.
In a surprise announcement before Paul and Joshua got into the ring, Dave Chappelle revealed that he was releasing a new stand-up special, “The Unstoppable,” on Netflix after the fight.
Paul had originally been scheduled to take on boxer Gervonta “Tank” Davis in November, but that fight was canceled after Davis was sued in an alleged domestic violence incident.
In November 2024, Netflix streamed Paul’s record-breaking fight against Mike Tyson, which drew an estimated average minute audience (AMA) of 108 million live viewers globally. (Paul defeated Tyson in the eight-round bout by a unanimous decision.) The Paul-Tyson fight was the most-streamed sporting event to date, according to Netflix. “It’s a Super Bowl-like audience we were able to draw,” Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said at an investor conference after that event.
For Netflix — whose execs once dismissed the company’s entry into live sports — Jake vs. Joshua is part of a growing lineup of live events on the streamer. “WWE Raw” airs weekly on Netflix globally. Starting in 2026, it will carry a few select Major League Baseball games. And this month Netflix is again hosting an exclusive NFL doubleheader on Christmas Day, featuring the Dallas Cowboys vs. Washington Commanders and Detroit Lions vs. Minnesota Vikings. Earlier this week, Netflix announced that it hired former ESPN host Elle Duncan as its first on-air sports anchor.
