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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's mouth gaped wide open, his expression turning to wide, stunned circles as he collapsed to the mat in shock and awe following a pulverising right hand from the former champion. It looked as if Paul was attempting to say "Whoa!" as the severity of the blow sank in to his rattled senses.

"The audience didn't spend money to see this crap," snapped the referee, encapsulating the sorry spectacle much more effectively than any observer else managed to.

Pinned in a neutral corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could not run or hold on to Joshua's legs like a forlorn little boy as the gravity of the sweet science enveloped him. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the shot that broke his jaw in two separate places, Paul was caught in an completely stunned moment.

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

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been knocked down, but the consequences of a proper power shot ensured Paul would not be able to rise and waggle his tongue defiantly before the official called the charade to a halt. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a numbing throb radiated through his jaw, Paul at last understood how difficult, grueling, and dangerous boxing is at a respectable level of professionalism.

A Far From Commanding Victory for Joshua

Anthony Joshua, it should be stressed, was not impressive during the chaos. After his hollow victory, he performed a cut-throat motion that suggested a clinical and deadly execution when, in reality, Joshua had appeared exasperated for the majority of the fight. Rather than glowering with menace or exhibiting an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had seemed tentative and awkward for nearly five stanzas.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a fundamental requirement in top-level boxing, dictated the result. Without the gas to escape any longer, and reduced to slipping to the canvas as often as he could for a breather, Paul was rendered helpless by exhaustion. Joshua delivered the vicious finish, but, up to that point, he had seemed a mournful shadow of the boxer he had been in 2017.

The Winner's Aftermath Assessment

"That was not the best performance," Joshua admitted. "The objective was to get Jake Paul, pin him down and do damage. That has been the request, and that's what was on my thoughts. It took a bit longer than expected, but the right hand eventually reached its destination."

Joshua commended Paul's courage but he added an excuse for his own stilted showing. "He faced a genuine competitor tonight that's had a 15-month hiatus," Joshua said, referencing his previous loss. "We dusted off the cobwebs, and I am eager to roll into 2026."

The Future: Past Their Prime and New Talent

In the post-fight interview afterwards, a cheerful Joshua tried out a woeful impression of his domestic rival as he demanded a fight against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will probably have his way, but that matchup comes much too late in their professional journeys. Both fighters are on the downward slope of the hill.

In stark contrast, the most compelling heavyweights in the world remain Oleksandr Usyk and Moses Itauma. Usyk is still the unquestioned king of the weight class, after defeating both Joshua and Fury twice. At the same time, Itauma is a rising talent. The youthful British heavyweight would probably have needed fewer than half the number of rounds that Joshua needed to send Paul into a appropriately wowed stupor.

The Defeated Fighter's Unbowed Response

But the public receives what the public wants, and that undoubtedly means more low-quality celebrity fights. Paul appeared genuinely satisfied and cocky to have had his mandible fractured by a sledgehammer right. In the wee hours of the next day, he posted an radiograph, with the pair of breaks marked in crimson.

That jokey nod to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a much superior boxer than Joshua but a similarly faded presence, showed that Paul's brazen audacity is unbroken. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will soon find someone else with whom he can make north of $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before leaving for the medical facility, Paul spat a streak of blood onto the canvas. It was another bleak symbol of the night as Paul mixed harsh reality with gory bullshit and said: "I think my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A proper ass-whipping from one of the best to ever step in the ring. I love this shit and I'm going to return and keep on winning."