STWF Sports | Dec. 21, 2025 – Anthony Joshua’s long-awaited return to the ring delivered the emphatic knockout many expected, but it was a surprising revelation outside the ropes that sparked just as much conversation. After stopping Jake Paul with a concussive sixth-round right hand in Miami, Joshua appeared to casually disclose that he is now a married man—an unexpected detail from a fighter notoriously guarded about his personal life.
The 36-year-old ended a 15-month absence on Friday night, fighting for the first time since suffering a knockout defeat to Daniel Dubois in September 2024. And while his performance eventually overwhelmed the YouTube star turned boxer, Joshua’s post-fight reflections revealed a deeper layer to his time away.
“My wife wasn’t happy” — Joshua lifts the curtain on his private life
Joshua, who has a 10-year-old son, JJ, rarely shares anything about his family. But while discussing the emotional reset that fueled his comeback, he let slip a comment that caught the boxing world off guard.
“I was trying to fall back in love with boxing,” Joshua said, as quoted by The Sun. “I realized if you’re a family man, I was working away from home. I was spending time with my friends and my wife wasn’t happy.
“So I had to look at the decisions I was making and I had to come back home to boxing. I had to sacrifice. I had to take a look at my life, make necessary changes to put my love back into the sport.”
Whether Joshua intentionally revealed his marital status or simply misspoke remains unclear, but the comments represent the most personal insight he has offered in years.
A knockout comes late—but lands brutally
Inside the ring, Joshua eventually delivered the type of finish expected from a two-time heavyweight champion. Though fans and pundits predicted an early demolition, Paul managed to frustrate and evade Joshua for four rounds, circling the ring and refusing to engage.
That stalemate ended in the fifth. Joshua landed a heavy left hook to score the first knockdown, then dropped Paul again with a right-left combination moments later. Paul survived the round but was running on fumes.
In the sixth, Joshua’s experience and size advantage—the Brit weighed nearly 27 pounds heavier—proved overwhelming. Two more knockdowns forced the referee to intervene, sending Joshua back into the win column and Paul straight to a Miami hospital.
Joshua responds to criticism: “I deserve it.”
Despite the conclusive finish, some criticized Joshua for taking six rounds to dispatch a fighter with limited professional experience. Joshua didn’t shy away from the scrutiny.
“I deserve it,” he admitted. “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’d get him back in the gym tomorrow and give him a bit of a beating.
“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. Credit to him, he done well. I told him what would happen—it just took six rounds to do it.”
Paul faces long recovery after broken jaw
Paul, 28, was dropped four times and absorbed the most damaging blow of his career when Joshua’s final right hand fractured his jaw in two places. He underwent successful surgery and revealed he must consume only liquids for the next seven days.
Across six rounds, Paul threw just 56 punches, landing only 16—a stark contrast to Joshua’s 48 connects from 146 attempts.
What’s next for Joshua?
Joshua’s victory resets his momentum at a critical moment in the heavyweight landscape. With a 2026 mega-fight against Tyson Fury inching closer, the questions surrounding his sharpness, mindset, and personal life will follow him into a decisive new chapter.
But for now, Joshua’s comeback is complete—and whether intentionally or not, he delivered a headline far beyond boxing’s scorecards.
