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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's mouth gaped wide open, his eyes becoming wide, stunned circles as he collapsed to the canvas in stunned disbelief after a devastating right hand from Anthony Joshua. It appeared as if Paul was trying to utter "Whoa!" as the severity of the impact registered to his scrambled senses.

"The fans didn't spend money to see this crap," snapped the referee, summing up the sorry spectacle 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 no longer run or hold on to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the gravity of boxing became clear. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the punch that broke his jaw in two separate places, Paul was lost in an completely dazed moment.

So that is what it is like, and appears, to be struck cleanly by a genuine boxer, an Olympic gold medallist and former world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is certainly the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been sent to the floor, but the result of a proper power shot meant Paul would not be able to get up and waggle his tongue defiantly before the official called the charade to a halt. As blood began to trickle from his mouth, and a dull ache spread through his jawbone, Paul finally understood how hard, exhausting, and dangerous boxing is at a respectable level of competition.

An Unimpressive Impressive Victory for the Victor

Anthony Joshua, it must be noted, was far from convincing amid the chaos. After his empty victory, he performed a cut-throat motion that suggested a clinical and deadly finish when, in reality, Joshua had appeared exasperated for most of the fight. Instead of glowering with menace or exhibiting an iron certainty, Joshua had seemed hesitant and crude for nearly five rounds.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a basic essential in top-level boxing, shaped the result. Lacking the stamina to flee any more, and resorting to falling to the canvas as frequently as he could for a rest, Paul was rendered defenseless by fatigue. Joshua delivered the brutal finish, but, until then, he had seemed a mournful imitation of the fighter he had been in 2017.

Joshua's Post-Fight Comments

"That was not the finest display," Joshua conceded. "The objective was to get Jake Paul, corner him and do damage. That has been the plan, and that's what was on my mind. It took a bit longer than anticipated, but the right hand finally reached its destination."

Joshua praised Paul's bravery but he offered an excuse for his own labored showing. "He came up against a genuine competitor tonight that's had a 15-month layoff," Joshua said, referencing his previous loss. "We shook off the rust, and I can't wait to roll into 2026."

The Future: Past Their Prime and Rising Stars

In the press conference that followed, a cheerful Joshua tried out a poor impression of his domestic rival as he called for a fight against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will probably get his wish, but that matchup comes far too late in their careers. Both men are on the downward slope of the hill.

In stark contrast, the most compelling big men in the world remain Oleksandr Usyk and Moses Itauma. Usyk remains the unquestioned king of the division, after defeating both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. At the same time, Itauma is a rapidly ascending force. The youthful British heavyweight would probably have required fewer than half the number of three-minute periods that Joshua needed to knock Paul into a appropriately astonished stupor.

Paul's Defiant Response

But the public gets what the public desires, and that undoubtedly means more low-quality crossover fights. Paul seemed truly proud and cocky to have had his jaw broken by a hammer-like right. In the wee hours of the next day, he shared an radiograph, with the pair of breaks marked in red.

That lighthearted nod to the Mexican superstar, a much superior boxer than Joshua but a equally faded force, demonstrated that Paul's comic chutzpah is unbroken. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly locate someone else with whom he can earn north of $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before departing to the medical facility, Paul expelled a streak of blood onto the canvas. It was another grim summary of the night as Paul mixed harsh reality with gory bravado and stated: "I think my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A nice little ass-whipping from one of the greatest to ever step in the ring. I adore this shit and I'm going to return and continue winning."