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7 months ago
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About
Anthony Joshua Smiling at Jake Paul Before Punching Him refers to an image captured during the Jake Paul vs. Anthony Joshua Boxing Match in December 2025, in which heavyweight boxer Anthony Joshua is seen smiling before delivering the knockout punch on boxer and former YouTuber Jake Paul. The photo, in which Joshua looks happy before punching Paul, became an object labeling, exploitable and image macro template on X / Twitter and Reddit, among other social media sites, in late 2025.
Origin
On December 20th, 2025, former YouTuber and influencer boxer Jake Paul faced off against two-time unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua. Paul was knocked out in the sixth round with a blow that broke his jaw, according to ESPN.
In the replay of the knockout punch, Joshua was seen smiling before he delivered it. The screencap was first posted by X user @kishswim on December 20th, who captioned it, "Yo I’m crying," gaining over 543,000 likes in two days.
Spread
On December 20th, 2025, X user @shoyoiser quote-tweeted the abovementioned tweet, writing, "Smiled before blackflashing on that bastard tears bro," gaining over 153,000 likes in two days.
Also on December 20th, X user @kelskiYT quote-tweeted the post, writing, "'Is there friendly fire in this game' / Me about to check." Over two days, the post received over 118,000 likes.
On December 21st, 2025, X user @primusibi tweeted a redraw of the photo, showing the Transformers characters Megatron and Starscream. In a day, the post gained over 14,000 likes.
On December 20th, Redditor Awoken_Noob shared an image caption meme to the /r/memes subreddit, joking about knocking out Jake Paul being "priceless." Over two days, the post gained over 85,000 upvotes.
On December 22nd, 2025, Redditor ToBeRi shared a post to the /r/memes subreddit, comparing Joshua's face to the excited face of a cop swinging a baton, captioned, "It isn't work when you love your job." In a few hours, the post gained over 8,400 upvotes.
Various Examples
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