Anthony Joshua admits he ‘deserves’ criticism for taking so long to knock out Jake Paul

Anthony Joshua has been left frustrated he wasn’t able to end his fight with Jake Paul sooner.

The experienced British heavyweight was an overwhelming favourite to get the job done against influencer-boxer Paul in their surprise showdown.

And Paul came out with a game plan to stop Joshua landing his killer shot with some bizarre and scrappy tactics, although it saw him dropped four times.

In the sixth round, AJ finally landed that clean blow, a thumping right hand, which left Paul in a heap on the canvas.

But many had expected a stoppage in the opening stages, as had Joshua, who was hoping to give himself an early night.

When asked by talkSPORT if he felt criticism of his display was justified, Joshua replied: “I deserve it.

“Because we are elite fighters, if I put myself in the shoes of a coach, if my fighter did six rounds with Jake Paul…

“I would get him back in the gym tomorrow, give him a bit of a beating and get straight back to work.

“I’d be like ‘how are you letting this kid take you six rounds, are you crazy?’.

“But I can’t go back in time, but credit to him, he done well. I told him what would happen but it just took six rounds to do it.”

Joshua’s plans for 2026 and Tyson Fury message

Joshua is now expected to move into next year with a full focus on a final assault on the heavyweight division.

It has been agreed with Saudi boxing chief Turki Alalshikh that he will first fight in February.

And it is expected that will then lead to an inevitable showdown with long-term rival Tyson Fury in the summer next year.

It is a highly anticipated clash and a big year for the former two-time champion, who is willing to waste no time to pursue the ‘Gypsy King’.

He continued to talkSPORT: “Yeah I think what happens is, is that your peak fitness leaves you after 14 days.

“So I will have 7-10 days doing some recovery and then I am going to get straight back to where we left off.

“I’m not going to disrespect Fury, but I deserve the fight, the fans deserve it.

“It’s such a shame, the guy needs to grow a backbone, you win some and you lose some.

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“I definitely beat him, 100 per cent.”

Eddie Hearn’s verdict

Joshua’s promoter Hearn was less focused on the performance, and was keen to brush away any criticism.

He believes ultimately it was a good night’s work with a big 2026 now in the rear view mirror.

He added to talkSPORT: “It was a frustrating two or three rounds. Jake was moving around, I was impressed with his toughness.

“We got six good rounds in the end, I think it was a positive to be honest.

“It could have been done in seconds, but he’s done an eight-week camp and now has something to work on for 2026.”