Anthony Joshua calls out Tyson Fury after beating Jake Paul in Miami

Anthony Joshua called out Tyson Fury after labouring to a sixth-round victory over Youtuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul in Miami.

Joshua, who is reportedly close to agreeing a long-awaited fight against Fury in Riyadh in 2026, was made to work far harder than he would have liked to extinguish the challenge of a brave, but extremely limited, opponent as he did little to suggest he was close to returning to the upper echelons of the sport.

The former heavyweight champion struggled to land a meaningful punch as Paul proved elusive in the early rounds, but dropped him twice in the fifth before finally securing a knockout in round six.

“It wasn’t the best performance,” Joshua told Netflix.

“We have to give Jake his respect for trying and trying and trying, but he came up against a real fighter tonight that’s had a 15-month layoff, who shook off the cobwebs.

“I can’t wait to roll into 2026. If Tyson Fury is as serious as he thinks he is, and he wants to put down his Twitter fingers and put on some gloves and come and fight one of the realest fighters out there, that will take on any challenge, step in the ring with me next if you’re a real bad boy.

“Don’t do all that talking, ‘AJ this, AJ that’, let’s see you in the ring and talk with your fists.”

Asked whether his 15-month spell out of the ring since losing to Daniel Dubois had played a part in taking so long to see off an opponent whose previous career had predominantly come against former UFC stars or faded boxing greats, Joshua insisted he had deliberately toyed with Paul.

“I need to give this guy a systematic breakdown,” he added.

“I said I’m going to take his soul, I said I’m going to see it leaving his body round after round. When the time comes, some people are there to get knocked out. I said it and that’s exactly what happened.

“I just took my time and I got the job done within the time limit of eight rounds.

“I refuse to get hurt, I refuse to acknowledge getting hurt. As soon as he hit me, I stood there and I tried to hit him back.

“At the end of the day there’s going to be one winner and it’s me tonight.”

Paul barely landed a shot but showed commendable heart to last as long as he did once Joshua’s barrage began.

Afterwards the 28-year-old revealed that he thought he had broken his jaw as he spat out a mouthful of blood during a post-fight interview.

“I’m feeling good, that was fun,” he said. “I love this sport. I gave it my all… I had a blast.

“Anthony’s a great fighter, I got my ass beat but that’s what this sport’s about.

“I think my jaw is broke by the way… it’s definitely broke. A nice ass whooping from one of the best to ever do it.

“We’re going to heal the broken jaw, fight someone my weight and go for the cruiserweight world title.”