The referee was actually being paid to be there and even he got tired of this “crap.”
Anthony Joshua’s knockout of the polarizing Jake Paul on Friday night featured a rather comedic moment when the referee called the boxers to the center of the ring to give them a piece of his mind.
“Both ya’ll come here,” referee Christopher Young said on an audible mic in the fourth round.
“Fans didn’t pay to see this crap, OK? You gonna fight, you gonna fight, but fight within the rules. OK? Touch ’em up, fight clean.”
Netflix play-by-play man Mauro Ranallo loved Young’s reaction, shouting, “Amen” after Young delivered his line about fans paying for “crap” and then celebrating Young after his brief speech.
“Christopher Young with the quote of the night,” Ranallo excitedly said.
Fans didn’t see much of the “crap” with the bout ending two rounds later as Joshua knocked Paul out with a strong right hand with Paul situated in the turnbuckle.
Paul, 28, confirmed after the fight that he suffered a broken jaw in two places, posting a screenshot of the X-ray along with a comedic video from his hospital bed alongside his brother, WWE star Logan Paul.
Young’s comments seemingly referred to how the first four rounds lacked action, with Paul seemingly avoiding his bigger and more accomplished opponent.
Joshua stands at 6-foot-6 and 243 pounds with an 82-inch reach, compared to Paul’s 6-foot-1, 184-pound build with a 76-inch reach.
The competitors picked up the action in the fifth round with Joshua knocking “The Problem Child” to the mat twice before finally dropping him for good in the sixth round.
The 36-year-old Joshua improved to 29-4 with the victory, while Paul is now 12-2.
“Jake Paul did really well and he deserves his props,” Joshua said. “It takes a real man to do that and he deserves respect for trying and trying and trying. But he came up against a real fighter tonight.”
Paul took the loss in stride.
“I’m feeling good. That was fun. I love this sport and I had a blast,” Paul said.
“Anthony is a great fighter. I got my ass beat but that’s what this sport is all about. This sport has helped me so much. I think my jaw is broken, by the way.”
