MIAMI – Former world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua said it was “not his best performance”, as he knocked out YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul in their controversial Netflix-backed bout in Miami on Friday.

The fight at the Kaseya Center, which saw both men reportedly splitting a mammoth purse of US$184 million, had triggered alarm across boxing due to the gulf in physical size and class between Britain’s two-time former world champion Joshua and Paul, an internet personality who has forged a lucrative career through a handful of novelty boxing contests.