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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's mouth gaped wide open, his expression turning to huge glazed saucers as he sank to the mat in stunned disbelief following a devastating right hand from the former champion. It looked as if Paul was trying to utter "Wow!" as the force of the impact sank in to his rattled senses.

"The audience didn't pay to see this crap," snapped the referee, summing up the sorry affair much more effectively than any observer else managed to.

Pinned in a corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could not retreat or cling to Joshua's legs like a forlorn little boy as the gravity of boxing enveloped him. Instead, as he tried to absorb the shot that broke his jaw in two distinct locations, Paul was caught in an completely dazed moment.

So this is how it is like, and looks, to be hit hard by a genuine boxer, an Olympic gold medallist and former world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is indeed the word.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been sent to the floor, but the result of a clean punch meant Paul could not rise and taunt his opponent before the official waved the charade over. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a numbing throb radiated through his jawbone, Paul finally grasped how hard, grueling, and perilous boxing is at a respectable standard of competition.

An Unimpressive Impressive Win for Joshua

Anthony Joshua, it should be stressed, was not impressive during the chaos. After his empty victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that suggested a precise and lethal finish when, in reality, Joshua had appeared exasperated for most of the contest. Rather than glowering with menace or displaying an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had seemed hesitant and awkward for almost five stanzas.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a fundamental requirement in elite boxing, dictated the result. Lacking the stamina to escape any more, and reduced to falling to the deck as frequently as he could for a rest, Paul was left helpless by fatigue. Joshua delivered the vicious finish, but, until then, he had seemed a sad shadow of the fighter he had been in 2017.

Joshua's Aftermath Comments

"It wasn't the finest display," Joshua conceded. "The objective was to catch Jake Paul, corner him and do damage. That has been the plan, and that's what was on my thoughts. It took a little more time than expected, but the right hand finally reached its target."

Joshua commended Paul's bravery but he offered an explanation for his own labored performance. "He came up against a genuine competitor tonight that's had a 15-month layoff," Joshua said, mentioning his previous defeat. "We shook off the cobwebs, and I can't wait to head into 2026."

The Future: Faded Forces and New Talent

In the post-fight interview afterwards, a cheerful Joshua tried out a poor imitation of his domestic rival as he called for a fight against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will probably have his way, but that matchup comes far too late in their professional journeys. Both fighters are on the downward slope of the hill.

In stark contrast, the most compelling heavyweights in the world remain the Ukrainian master and the British prospect. Usyk is still the undoubted king of the division, having beaten both Joshua and Fury twice. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rapidly ascending force. The youthful British heavyweight would probably have required fewer than half the amount of three-minute periods that Joshua needed to knock Paul into a appropriately wowed state.

Paul's Unbowed Reaction

But the fans gets what the public desires, and that undoubtedly means additional pitiful celebrity contests. Paul appeared truly satisfied and brash to have had his jaw broken by a hammer-like right. In the early hours of the next day, he shared an radiograph, with the two fractures marked in crimson.

That jokey nod to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a far greater boxer than Joshua but a equally diminished force, demonstrated that Paul's brazen audacity remains undented. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will soon find someone else with whom he can make more than $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before leaving for the hospital, Paul expelled a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was another grim symbol of the night as Paul mixed harsh reality with gory bullshit and stated: "I think my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A nice little ass-whipping from one of the greatest to ever do it. I love this sport and I'm going to come back and keep on winning."