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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's mouth gaped wide open, his eyes becoming wide, stunned circles as he sank to the canvas in stunned disbelief after a pulverising right hand from the former champion. It looked as if Paul was attempting to utter "Wow!" as the force of the blow sank in to his rattled senses.

"The audience didn't spend money to see this rubbish," snapped the referee, encapsulating the dismal affair much more succinctly than any observer else managed to.

Trapped in a corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could no longer run or hold on to Joshua's legs like a forlorn little boy as the serious reality of the sweet science became clear. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the punch that broke his jaw in two separate places, Paul was caught in an utterly dazed moment.

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

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been sent to the floor, but the result of a clean power shot ensured Paul would not be able to 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 jaw, Paul finally grasped how difficult, grueling, and perilous boxing is at a respectable standard of competition.

A Far From Commanding Win for Joshua

Anthony Joshua, it must be noted, was far from convincing during the bedlam. After his hollow victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that suggested a clinical and lethal finish when, in truth, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for the majority of the contest. Instead of glowering with menace or exhibiting an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had appeared tentative and crude for nearly 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 resorting to slipping to the deck as frequently as he could for a breather, Paul was left helpless by fatigue. Joshua applied the vicious finish, but, until then, he had seemed a sad shadow of the fighter he had been in 2017.

The Winner's Aftermath Comments

"It wasn't the best performance," Joshua admitted. "The end goal was to get Jake Paul, corner him and do damage. That has been the request, and that's what was on my thoughts. It took a little more time than anticipated, but the straight right finally reached its destination."

Joshua praised 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 15-month hiatus," Joshua said, referencing his previous defeat. "We dusted off the rust, and I am eager to head into 2026."

The Future: Past Their Prime and New Talent

In the press conference that followed, a cheerful Joshua tried out a woeful impression of his domestic rival as he demanded a scrap against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will probably get his wish, but that matchup comes much too late in their professional journeys. Both fighters are on the downward slope of the peak.

In stark contrast, the most interesting big men in the world are Oleksandr Usyk and the British prospect. Usyk remains the unquestioned ruler of the weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. At the same time, Itauma is a rapidly ascending force. The young British heavyweight would probably have required fewer than half the amount of rounds that Joshua needed to knock Paul into a appropriately astonished stupor.

Paul's Unbowed Response

But the fans receives what the public wants, and that certainly means additional pitiful celebrity contests. Paul seemed truly satisfied and brash 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 highlighted in red.

That jokey nod to the Mexican superstar, a much superior boxer than Joshua but a similarly faded force, showed that Paul's brazen audacity remains unbroken. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly locate another opponent with whom he can earn more than $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before departing to the hospital, Paul spat a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was another grim symbol of the evening as Paul mangled harsh reality with blood-flecked bravado and stated: "I think my jaw is broken. It's certainly 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 continue winning."