JAKE PAUL MADE MAJOR MISTAKE TAKING ON A 'REAL' FIGHTER

 

Despite an obvious (and failed) attempt by Netflix’ 

announcers to make viewers think they shouldn’t believe 

their lying eyes, JAKE PAUL embarrassed himself 

Saturday night in what was no-contest against two-time 

and former heavyweight boxing champion ANTHONY 

JOSHUA.

Paul, the so-called YouTube sensation and a first-class 

hustler who had beaten up has-beens like MIKE TYSON

 as well as a bunch of never-was fringe pro boxers who 

excelled in other contact sports, was reduced to throwing 

wild punches (when he even bothered) then grabbing the 

much-taller Joshua and sliding down his legs to the 

canvas.

Honest! He did it so often that the referee stopped the 

bout (briefly) in the fourth of eight scheduled rounds to 

tell them to “cut out this crap. The fans didn’t pay to see 

this.”

Fortunately, Netflix, which charges as much as $22 a 

month to watch its entertainment-loaded streaming 

service, did not charge extra for this non-fight. Someone 

in authority recognized, like DraftKings, which bet a cool 

$100 million on Joshua to win, this was going to be about 

as one-sided as it gets.

Paul, 6-1, 216 pounds (and hardly in the best shape) 

compared to Joshua’s 6-6. 245 (at least he looked rock 

solid even if it was his first in-ring appearance in 18 

months), spent the first two rounds running away – and 

Joshua seemed inclined to let him.

“Nobody thought it would last this long,” said lead yapper MAURO RANALLO, 56-year-old Canadian who was 

the original “Voice of WWE Smackdown” in 2015 but 

who suffers from a bi-polar condition that led him to miss 

several assignments. He finally left WWE in 2017 after 

being bullied by former wrestler JOHN BRADSHAW 

LAYFIELD.

In round four, after Paul reacted like he had been hit 

below the belt, Ranallo said, “It looks like Joshua tried to 

jingle his bells … It is the holiday season after all.”

By then, after Netflix posted some statistics that showed, 

for example, Joshua had landed 48 punches to Paul’s 16 

(that many?), Ranallo was working his way off the 

bandwagon.

“The numbers are putrid,” he said.

That didn’t stop someone called Cristina who, in the fifth 

round … after Paul actually landed a looping left then 

landed on the canvas twice … said, “Looks like Jake is 

trying to bait him.” Say what?

Finally, at 1:31 of the sixth , it was over, mercifully so, 

for Jake who started the round by going down again, 

grabbing Joshua’s leg as he went. Paul got up and started 

sticking his tongue out at Joshua, which was a mistake.

The 36 year old native of England cornered Paul and 

ended it with a solid right to the jaw. The ref stopped the 

fight … and someone working with Ranallo (Cristina 

perhaps) said, “Well, at least he didn’t get hurt.”

Oh, come on!

Said Ranallo, “When he got tired, he panicked. When his 

lack of shape showed against a real fighter, you saw what 

happened.”

When they finally got to Paul for a post-fight interview, 

he began with:

“I think my jaw is broken.”

Would you believe in two places! … which automatically 

earned him a 60-day suspension by the sanctioning 

Florida Athletic Commission.

“Just out of surgery,” Paul wrote on social media the next 

day. “Everything went smooth. Lots of pain. Gotta eat 

liquids for seven days.

“Double broken jaw. Give me CANELO [ALVAREZ] in 

10 days.”

At least he hadn’t lost his sense of humor.

“That was fun,” said Paul, 28, his record now 12-2. “I 

knew the odds were stacked against me … [but] I love 

this sport, and I had a blast.”

He also told viewers, “That was a nice little ass-whooping 

from one of the best ever to do it.”

Joshua built his record to 29-4 (25 knockouts). He 

undoubtedly could have ended it earlier but, as the PA 

announcer reminded everyone during pre-fight 

(introductions, they didn’t pay anywhere from a low of 

$55 to a high of $1,949 per ticket to see him in Miami, 

Fla.

No, this was all about Paul, who arrived in the ring 

wearing a specially-designed outfit honoring HULK 

HOGAN, the late pro rasslin’ icon who knew all about if 

you can’t make it, fake it. In other words, he and Jake had 

a lot in common. 

(Come to think about it … if you’re big into conspiracy 

theories, what if … given the fact that the betting services 

were overwhelmned by bettors wagering this one 

wouldn’t last more than three rounds. With Joshua the 

prohibitive favorite at minus 1,200 … why not help 

FanDuel and the other betting services by allowing Paul 

to survive into the fourth … and beyond to keep from 

being accused this really wasn’t on the up-and-up? It 

would be so easy.)

When Paul started out like he had trained for a foot race 

rather than fisticuffs… had Joshua been so inclined to 

carry the $200 million (he got half, a tidy sum surely 

worth risking blowback) mega-event, why not?

Anyhow, Joshua did receive some withering criticism for 

not stopping Paul earlier … like he could care less. For 

the most part, hardly anyone (including himself, or so he 

said) was pleased by Joshua’s performance … that is, 

until he drilled Paul early in the sixth round.

And, while DraftKings was counting the return from its 

mega bet, Barstool Sports founder DAVE PORTNOY, 

who KNOWs how to attract attention, went against the 

grain (again) by defending Paul.

“If you don’t respect what Jake Paul just did, you are a 

lifetime loser,” said Portnoy, who just signed a podcasting 

deal with Netflix.

One of Portnoy’s “losers,” member of the International 

Boxing Hall of Fame KEVIN IOLE, called it “a 

complete abomination of a fight. Anthony Joshua ought to 

be embarrassed. And Netflix ought to be embarrassed for 

putting on such a horrendous card. Wow, was that bad.”

We watched three of nine preliminaries. Two were 

shutouts, the winners taking every round. The other was a 

second-round knockout by ANDERSON SILVA over

 TYRON WOODLEY in a matchup of former MMA 

champions, both of whom previously had been used as 

punching bags by Paul.

Until next time ...