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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's jaw dropped agape, his expression turning to huge glazed saucers as he sank to the canvas in shock and awe following a pulverising right hand from Anthony Joshua. It looked as if Paul was trying to say "Whoa!" as the severity of the impact registered to his scrambled senses.

"The fans didn't pay to see this rubbish," said the referee, encapsulating the sorry affair much more succinctly than anyone else managed to.

Trapped in a neutral corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could no longer run or cling to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the gravity of the sweet science enveloped him. Instead, as he tried to absorb the shot that fractured his mandible in two separate places, Paul was caught in an utterly stunned moment.

So this is how it is like, and appears, to be hit hard by a real professional fighter, an Olympic gold medallist and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is indeed the word.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been sent to the floor, but the consequences of a proper punch meant Paul could not rise and taunt his opponent before the referee waved the contest to a halt. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a numbing throb radiated through his jaw, Paul finally grasped how hard, exhausting, and perilous boxing is at a respectable standard of competition.

A Far From Impressive Win for Joshua

Anthony Joshua, it should be stressed, was not impressive amid the chaos. After his hollow victory, he made a cut-throat motion that suggested a precise and lethal execution when, in reality, Joshua had appeared exasperated for the majority of the fight. Instead of exuding intimidation or exhibiting an iron certainty, Joshua had appeared tentative and awkward for almost five rounds.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a fundamental requirement in top-level boxing, shaped the outcome. Without the gas to flee any more, and resorting to falling to the canvas as frequently as he could for a breather, Paul was rendered helpless by fatigue. Joshua delivered the brutal ending, but, up to that point, he had looked like a sad shadow of the boxer he was in 2017.

The Winner's Aftermath Comments

"It wasn't the finest performance," Joshua conceded. "The objective was to get Jake Paul, corner him and do damage. That has been the request, and that's what was on my mind. It took a bit longer than anticipated, but the right hand eventually reached its target."

Joshua commended Paul's courage but he added an excuse for his own labored performance. "He faced a genuine competitor tonight that's had a fifteen-month hiatus," Joshua said, mentioning his last defeat. "We shook off the cobwebs, and I am eager to roll into 2026."

What Comes Next: Past Their Prime and New Talent

In the press conference afterwards, a jovial Joshua tried out a poor impression of his domestic rival as he called for a scrap against the currently retired 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 compelling big men in the world are the Ukrainian master and the British prospect. Usyk remains the undoubted king of the weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rapidly ascending talent. The youthful British heavyweight would probably have required less than half the number of rounds that Joshua needed to knock Paul into a suitably wowed stupor.

The Defeated Fighter's Defiant Response

But the public gets what the public wants, and that undoubtedly means more pitiful crossover contests. Paul appeared truly proud and brash to have had his jaw broken by a sledgehammer right. In the wee hours of the next day, he posted an X-ray, with the pair of breaks marked in red.

That jokey reference to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a far greater boxer than Joshua but a similarly faded presence, demonstrated that Paul's comic chutzpah remains undented. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly find another opponent with whom he can make north of $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before leaving for the medical facility, Paul expelled a streak of blood onto the ring floor. It was another grim symbol of the evening as Paul mixed blunt truth with blood-flecked bullshit and said: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A nice little ass-whipping from one of the best to ever do it. I adore this sport and I'm going to return and continue winning."