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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's jaw dropped agape, his eyes becoming wide, stunned circles as he collapsed to the canvas in stunned disbelief following a pulverising right hand from the former champion. It appeared as if Paul was attempting to utter "Wow!" as the severity of the impact registered to his scrambled senses.

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

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

So that is what it feels, and appears, to be struck cleanly by a genuine professional fighter, an Olympic gold medallist and former world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is certainly the word.

It was the fourth time the social media star had been knocked down, but the result of a proper punch ensured Paul would not be able to get up and taunt his opponent before the official called the contest over. As blood began to leak from his lips, and a dull ache radiated through his jaw, Paul finally grasped how hard, exhausting, and dangerous boxing is at a decent level of competition.

An Unimpressive Impressive Win for the Victor

Anthony Joshua, it should be stressed, was far from convincing amid the chaos. After his empty victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that hinted at a clinical and deadly finish when, in reality, Joshua had appeared exasperated for the majority of the contest. Instead of glowering with menace or displaying an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had seemed hesitant and awkward for almost five rounds.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a basic essential in top-level boxing, dictated the result. Without the gas to escape any longer, and reduced to falling to the canvas as often as he could for a rest, Paul was rendered defenseless by exhaustion. Joshua delivered the vicious finish, but, up to that point, he had looked like a mournful shadow of the boxer he was in 2017.

Joshua's Post-Fight Assessment

"That was not the finest performance," Joshua admitted. "The end goal was to catch Jake Paul, pin him down and do damage. That has been the request, and that's what was on my thoughts. It took a little more time than expected, but the straight right finally found its destination."

Joshua commended Paul's courage but he offered an explanation for his own stilted performance. "He came up against a real fighter tonight that's had a fifteen-month hiatus," Joshua said, mentioning his previous defeat. "We shook off the rust, and I can't wait to head into 2026."

What Comes Next: Faded Forces and New Talent

In the post-fight interview that followed, a jovial Joshua tried out a woeful imitation of Tyson Fury as he called for a fight against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will probably have his way, but that bout comes far too late in their careers. Both fighters are on the downward slope of the peak.

In contrast, the most compelling big men in the world are Oleksandr Usyk and Moses Itauma. Usyk remains the undoubted ruler of the division, having beaten both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rising force. The young British heavyweight likely have needed fewer than half the amount of three-minute periods that Joshua needed to send Paul into a appropriately astonished state.

Paul's Unbowed Reaction

But the public gets what the public wants, and that certainly means more pitiful crossover contests. Paul appeared genuinely satisfied and brash to have had his mandible fractured by a hammer-like right. In the wee hours of the next day, he shared an X-ray, with the two fractures marked in red.

That lighthearted reference to the Mexican superstar, a far greater fighter than Joshua but a equally faded force, showed that Paul's brazen audacity is unbroken. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will soon locate another opponent with whom he can make north of $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before leaving for the hospital, Paul expelled a streak of blood onto the ring floor. It was another bleak symbol of the night as Paul mixed blunt truth with blood-flecked bullshit and said: "I think my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A nice little beating from one of the greatest to ever do it. I love this sport and I'm going to come back and keep on winning."