Jake Paul vs. Anthony Joshua wasn’t just a boxing spectacle on Netflix—it was a betting magnet. And when the smoke cleared in Miami, the wagering story ended up being almost the opposite of what the public hoped for: a wave of underdog money on Paul ran straight into a Joshua knockout.

Joshua stopped Paul in the 6th round on December 19, 2025, a result confirmed by both the AP and Reuters fight reports. That finish didn’t just decide the fight—it decided which side of the betting market got paid and which side got torched.

This post-fight recap breaks down:

  • The closing odds and how the line moved
  • Who won betting Paul vs Joshua across the most popular markets
  • The biggest reported wagers (including a celebrity miss)
  • Which props were “predictable” and which were lottery tickets
  • The real lesson bettors should take into the next mega-fight

If you’re comparing platforms or learning the basics, start with the boxing betting section at TrustDice and this explainer on how to start online boxing betting with crypto.

Paul vs Joshua odds outcome: what were the odds?

The market consensus was clear: Joshua was a massive favorite, and Paul was a longshot underdog.

Jake Paul betting line and Joshua’s favorite price

Odds varied by sportsbook and timing, but they sat in the same neighborhood:

  • ESPN noted Paul was a 7-1 underdog, and reported Joshua was around -1200 entering fight week.
  • FOX Sports listed DraftKings-style odds showing Paul +700 and Joshua -1200 on a pre-fight board.
  • Bleacher Report also referenced a board with Joshua around -1200 and Paul around +800.

Those numbers tell you two things:

  • Books expected Joshua to win most of the time.
  • The public still chased the underdog payout anyway.

What were the odds for Paul vs Joshua on stoppage?

Joshua by KO/TKO was also strongly favored:

  • CBS Sports listed Joshua to win by KO/TKO around -360 in one market snapshot.
  • A FOX Sports DraftKings odds table showed Joshua KO/TKO pricing around -400 (with Paul KO/TKO listed much longer).

So, if you bet “Joshua by KO,” you weren’t predicting something edgy—you were agreeing with what the market already expected.

Jake Paul Joshua betting results: who actually cashed?

Joshua’s Round 6 KO created a clean set of winners and losers. The biggest winners were not the people who laid Joshua moneyline at heavy juice. The biggest winners were prop bettors who threaded the needle.

Fast recap of the result

  • Joshua knocked Paul down multiple times and finished him in the 6th round.

That outcome settled the major betting markets like this:

Market Typical pre-fight price (examples) Result Who won Who lost
Moneyline Joshua ~-1200 / Paul ~+700 to +1100 Joshua KO Round 6 Joshua ML bettors (small returns) Paul ML bettors (majority side)
Method of victory Joshua by KO/TKO ~-360 to -400 KO Joshua KO/TKO bettors Joshua decision bettors, Paul method props
Total rounds O/U 3.5 widely posted Ended in Round 6 Over 3.5 bettors Under 3.5 bettors
Round prop (exact round) Joshua Round 6 was longshot pricing (example: 16/1) Round 6 Round 6 KO prop bettors (big payouts) Everyone chasing earlier rounds

Public betting percentages Paul Joshua: why so many bettors backed Paul

If you only looked at boxing resumes, the public split makes no sense. But if you’ve bet celebrity boxing before, it makes perfect sense.

DraftKings betting percentages leaned heavily to Paul

ESPN’s David Purdum reported that at DraftKings:

  • 82% of bets were on Jake Paul
  • 90% of the money wagered on the winner was on Jake Paul

DraftKings also said a Paul upset would have created nearly a $100 million loss for the book—meaning the sportsbook was sitting on huge liability if the underdog hit.

Hard Rock Bet in Florida also described “one-way action” toward Paul, according to ESPN’s reporting.

Why bettors chase celebrity underdogs

A few forces show up again and again in fights like this:

  • Fan betting: people bet who they like, not who should win
  • Longshot bias: +700 feels like “value” even when it isn’t
  • Viral narratives: training clips and influencer confidence create belief
  • Small favorite payout: -1200 is unattractive for casual bettors

If you want the evergreen fundamentals behind these patterns, boxing betting strategy and the evolution of boxing bets are useful primers.

Did Jake Paul bettors lose money? Yes—most did

Because the majority of tickets and money were on Paul, the most common “bettor experience” after the fight was simple:

  • Paul moneyline lost
  • Paul KO props lost
  • Paul-by-anything props lost

That doesn’t mean every bettor lost—sharp bettors were mostly aligned with Joshua, and prop bettors could do very well—but the average fan wager (Paul ML or Paul KO) got wiped out.

The Drake bet became the symbol of the night

One of the most viral examples: Bleacher Report reported Drake posted a $200,000 bet on Jake Paul that would have paid $1.64 million. It lost.

Celebrity slips like that matter because they amplify what casual bettors already did at scale.

Sportsbook profits: was Joshua knockout predictable for the books?

From a pure “did the sportsbook breathe easier?” standpoint: absolutely.

When a book says it has $100 million in liability on an underdog, it’s essentially telling you, “If the public miracle hits, we get crushed.” ESPN reported DraftKings was staring at nearly that level of downside if Paul won.

Joshua winning by KO did two profitable things for books:

  • It killed the underdog liability
  • It rewarded bettors mostly at short prices (Joshua -1200, KO prop in the -300s), which limits payout

That’s why this result is often described informally as a “sportsbook win,” even though sportsbooks still pay out plenty of Joshua tickets.

Over under rounds Paul Joshua: which totals won?

Totals were one of the most interesting angles because the fight didn’t end instantly. Paul survived long enough to flip the “duration” narrative.

Over/Under 3.5 rounds was common

CBS Sports reported the total rounds market had moved up, listing a total of 3.5 rounds in the pre-fight menu.

Because the fight ended in the 6th, Over 3.5 cashed.

The older 2.5-round total tells the same story

A FOX Sports odds table also showed a 2.5-round total on one DraftKings-style board.

With a Round 6 finish, Over 2.5 also cashed comfortably.

Big takeaway: The casual assumption (“Joshua will starch him immediately”) wasn’t how it played out. Paul’s survival to the late-middle rounds created value for bettors who played “Over” markets.

If you want a division-specific framework for totals and stoppage probability, heavyweight boxing betting is the most relevant of the internal guides.

Prop bets Paul Joshua outcome: the Round 6 knockout prop

The holy grail for many bettors is predicting how the fight ends, not just who wins.

Round 6 KO: long odds, real hit

Joshua’s KO in Round 6 was live in round-betting markets, and some books priced it as a longer shot than you might expect for a dominant favorite.

An Oddschecker promo example using Betfred pricing listed:

  • Anthony Joshua in Round 6: 16/1

That’s exactly the type of result that creates “biggest winners” stories: the favorite wins (as expected), but the specific timing pays like a longshot.

Joshua by KO line: the “boring” winner that still mattered

If you played Joshua by KO/TKO at around -360/-400, you won—but you paid for it with a low return.

This is why the biggest money isn’t always on the most correct bet. Sometimes the best bet is the one priced wrong, not the one priced safe.

Biggest boxing bet December 2025: what we know publicly

Sportsbooks don’t always publish handle and max wagers in detail, but ESPN gave a rare peek into the market.

ESPN reported:

  • Caesars’ combat sports lead noted the largest bet so far (pre-fight) was $90,000 to win $10,000 on Joshua
  • ESPN also framed the event as trending toward being one of the year’s most heavily bet boxing matches, while still likely drawing a smaller handle than Paul–Tyson due to the extreme price on Joshua.

So if you’re looking for “how much money was bet on Jake Paul,” the honest answer is: no universal official total has been published across the entire market. What we do have are credible indicators of massive interest—plus specific snapshots like the DraftKings splits and the reported $90K Caesars wager.

DraftKings Paul Joshua results: what likely happened to the book

We can’t claim DraftKings’ net profit without published numbers. But we can say this with confidence, based on DraftKings’ own liability comment via ESPN:

  • DraftKings was exposed to a large Paul upset
  • Joshua’s win removed that risk
  • A lopsided public side losing usually benefits the book

In betting terms, this is the classic “public dog gets clipped” result.

How to bet on boxing explained: lessons from Paul vs Joshua

This fight is a perfect case study for newer bettors because the market behavior was louder than the technique.

Don’t confuse entertainment with probability

Paul fights produce viral momentum that can distort judgment. The line was wide for a reason.

Short favorites can still be useful—just not alone

If you didn’t want -1200, the sharper approach is usually:

  • method of victory
  • totals
  • round ranges (Rounds 5–8, etc.)
  • same-game style combos where available (varies by jurisdiction)

“Predictable” isn’t the same as “profitable”

Joshua KO was widely expected and priced accordingly. The edge lives in markets where the book has less certainty—like totals and timing.

For a full foundation, see the ultimate guide to boxing championship betting and the broader sports betting hub.

Conclusion

The simplest summary of Paul vs Joshua betting results is this:

  • Joshua bettors won, but many at short prices
  • Paul bettors lost, and they were the majority—especially at DraftKings, where ESPN reported 82% of bets and 90% of money were on Paul
  • The books avoided a nightmare scenario: DraftKings said a Paul upset would have meant nearly $100 million in losses
  • The best payouts came from props like Joshua Round 6, where at least one widely advertised example priced it at 16/1
  • The fight finishing in Round 6 meant Over totals (including 3.5-round markets) were a key winner

If you’re planning your next card, don’t just ask “Who’s better?” Ask “Where is the market overconfident?” That’s how you find bets worth making—whether you’re using a mainstream book or tracking fight lines and markets through platforms like TrustDice and its boxing betting section.