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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's jaw dropped wide open, his expression turning to huge glazed saucers as he sank to the mat in stunned disbelief after a devastating right hand from the former champion. It looked as if Paul was attempting to say "Wow!" as the severity of the impact sank in to his rattled senses.

"The audience didn't spend money to see this rubbish," said the referee, encapsulating the dismal 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 retreat or cling to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the serious reality of boxing enveloped him. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the shot that fractured his mandible in two separate places, Paul was caught in an utterly stunned moment.

So that is what it is like, 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 consequences of a proper punch ensured Paul would not be able to get up and taunt his opponent before the official waved the charade over. As blood began to leak from his lips, and a dull ache spread through his jaw, Paul at last grasped how difficult, grueling, and perilous boxing is at a respectable standard of competition.

A Far From Commanding Win for Joshua

Anthony Joshua, it should be stressed, was far from convincing amid the bedlam. After his empty victory, he performed a throat-slitting gesture that hinted at a precise and deadly finish when, in reality, Joshua had appeared exasperated for the majority of the fight. Instead of glowering with menace or displaying an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had appeared hesitant and crude for nearly five stanzas.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a fundamental requirement in elite boxing, dictated the result. Without the gas to escape any more, and resorting to falling to the deck as frequently as he could for a breather, Paul was rendered defenseless by exhaustion. Joshua applied the brutal ending, but, up to that point, he had seemed a mournful shadow of the fighter he was in 2017.

The Winner's Aftermath Comments

"It wasn't the finest display," Joshua conceded. "The objective was to catch Jake Paul, corner him and hurt him. That has been the request, and that's what was on my mind. It took a little more time than anticipated, but the straight right eventually reached its target."

Joshua praised Paul's courage but he added an explanation for his own stilted performance. "He faced a genuine competitor tonight that's had a fifteen-month layoff," Joshua said, mentioning his previous defeat. "We dusted off the cobwebs, and I can't wait to roll into 2026."

What Comes Next: Faded Forces and Rising Stars

In the press conference that followed, a jovial Joshua attempted a woeful impression of his domestic rival as he called for a fight against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will probably have his way, but that bout comes much too late in their careers. Both men are on the downward slope of the hill.

In contrast, the most interesting big men in the world remain the Ukrainian master and Moses Itauma. Usyk is still the undoubted ruler of the weight class, after defeating both Joshua and Fury twice. At the same time, Itauma is a rising talent. The young British heavyweight would probably have needed fewer than half the number of three-minute periods that Joshua required to send Paul into a appropriately wowed stupor.

The Defeated Fighter's Unbowed Reaction

But the public gets what the public desires, and that undoubtedly means additional low-quality celebrity contests. Paul appeared genuinely proud and cocky to have had his jaw broken by a hammer-like right. In the wee hours of the next day, he posted an radiograph, with the two fractures marked in red.

That lighthearted reference to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a much superior fighter than Joshua but a similarly faded presence, showed that Paul's brazen audacity remains unbroken. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly locate another opponent with whom he can make more than $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before leaving for the medical facility, Paul spat a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was another grim summary of the evening as Paul mixed harsh reality with blood-flecked bravado and said: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A proper ass-whipping from one of the best to ever do it. I adore this shit and I'm going to come back and keep on winning."