Jake Paul Knocked Out By Anthony Joshua

It took six rounds, but Anthony Joshua did what the boxing world expected ... knocking Jake Paul out in their boxing match on Friday!

The fight in Miami, which was often sloppy, was mostly controlled by Joshua, especially in the later rounds.

Early, however, Paul frustrated AJ with his constant movement, making it difficult for Joshua to land any significant shots.

But, as the fight progressed, Jake seemed to tire, and Anthony got in a rhythm before punishing Paul in the fifth, dropping him twice.

To The Problem Child's credit, he got off the canvas on both occasions.

In the sixth, Paul, still feeling the effects from the previous round, once again went down, but this time couldn't beat the count.

Fight over.

Post fight, Jake and AJ, as they were for most of the lead-up to the highly anticipated event, were both cordial, embracing each other.

Joshua, who previously told us he needed to knock Paul out to truly be victorious, admitted it wasn't his best performance after the fight, but said he accomplished his goal in hurting JP.

To AJ's point, Jake said he broke his jaw during the fight.

Despite the L and the injury, Jake said he had a blast.

"I'm feeling good. That was fun. I love this sport," El Gallo said from the center of the ring, adding that Anthony is a "great fighter," and that he "got his ass beat."

Of course, aside from the big difference in experience, Jake was also the smaller man inside the squared circle.

Joshua came into the fight at 6'4", 243.4 pounds with an 82" wingspan ... with Paul measuring in at 6'1", 216.6 pounds, with a 76" wingspan.

Before any punches were thrown, Pail paid tribute to the late Hulk Hogan with his fight night 'fit ... wearing red and yellow trunks, sunglasses and playing a brief snippet of "Real American," the WWE legend's theme song, before ultimately bringing out Tekashi 6ix9ine to perform his rowdy song, "BILLY."

Both boxers took the fight on short notice -- Joshua stepped in after Paul's bout with Gervonta Davis was scrapped over Tank's recent domestic violence allegations.

Joshua, 36, is a former two-time unified heavyweight champion and Olympic gold medalist with a 29-4 record, and according to his comments after the bout, will now look to set up a mega fight against Tyson Fury.

28-year-old Paul now drops to 12-2 in his pro boxing career.