Paul vs. Joshua: Lennox Lewis, Chris Eubank Jr., and Andre Ward react

Former world heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis said Jake Paul “wasn’t in good shape” during his fight against Anthony Joshua.

The British heavyweight boxer stopped 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 of innings, it appeared he was just 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 bout since his defeat to Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium in September 2024.

“When Anthony said he was going to be out for 15 months, it showed,” Lewis added.

“He needed a few rounds to warm up and get used to the ring again before he threw those punches.

“He did what he had to do. There was a guy in front of him running around the ring and he had to catch him.”

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

“When Paul got tired, he panicked,” Ward said. “That’s a sign of fatigue. It’s helped Joshua a little bit because he’s had decent success early on.

“You have to give Joshua a little grace too, Jake Paul was good enough to keep things interesting for a while.”