Paul vs Joshua: Lennox Lewis, Chris Eubank Jr, Andre Ward reaction

Former world heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis has said Jake Paul «wasn’t in good shape» for his fight against Anthony Joshua.

The British heavyweight stopped boxing novice Paul when he failed to beat the count in the sixth round.

«Paul wasn’t in good shape, especially for a big heavyweight like that,» Lewis told Netflix.

«After a couple rounds it showed, he was basically sitting there waiting to get hit.»

The three-time world champion felt Joshua’s 15-month absence from the ring was the reason he failed to stop the YouTuber-turned-boxer earlier.

The bout with Paul was his first action since his defeat against Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium in September 2024.

«When Anthony said he’d been out for 15 months, it showed,» Lewis added.

«He needed a couple of rounds to warm up and get used to the ring again before he threw those punches.

«He did what he had to do. He had a guy in front of him running around the ring and he had to catch up with him.»

Former super middleweight Andre Ward was less harsh on Paul’s initial performance.

«When Paul got tired he panicked,» Ward said. «That’s a sign of fatigue. He helped Joshua out a little bit because he was having decent success early on.

«You have to give Joshua that little bit of grace too, Jake Paul was good enough to make things interesting for a little while.»

Boxing manager Sam Jones wrote on X that the spectacle was «horrendous», but there was some respect from the boxing world for Paul.

Chris Eubank Jr was among those to praise the American.

«Regardless of the outcome Jake Paul got into the ring with an Olympic gold medallist and former heavyweight world champion and tried his best until the very end,» Eubank wrote on X.

«You have to give him his respect now. He’s done what most would never do and he didn’t give up.»

Former world heavyweight champion David Haye agreed that Paul deserved respect for surviving six rounds.

«Joshua is trying a little too hard. It’s not about winning, it’s about how he wins,» Haye said during the early stages.

He then added: «Jake Paul was competitive in there. It was frustrating for Anthony Joshua in the early rounds.»

Former two-weight world champion Paulie Malignaggi refused to give any credit to Paul because of his tactics.

«Jake Paul ran for his life during the first two rounds and never engaged. He never tried to win or fight the fight,» Malignaggi told 5 Live Boxing with Steve Bunce.

«This is what I was fearing. The longer it lasted I said it would turn into more of a farce.

«AJ just couldn’t find Paul because he was like the Road Runner cartoon.

«If Paul fought hard for three minutes then he probably would not have lasted, but he would have got more respect.

«What did he accomplish? He still got knocked out.

«It was survival tactics from Paul. You know what you could do with that kind of money for boxing?

«He didn’t get caught because he finally decided to engage, he got caught and his jaw broken because he was exhausted from running for his life.

«Paul is the loser from the fight as he will never be respected in boxing again. This was his chance and I think he made the wrong choice.»

Malignaggi added any criticism about Joshua’s performance would be «ignorant and uncalled for».

«The only small criticism is not cutting off the ring very well,» 45-year-old said.

«He tried to get him out right away, he was almost shocked at how Paul was running.

«Joshua will never fight someone like that again so there was not much to gain from the fight.

«I think that is why he is not frustrated.»