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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 following a pulverising right hand from Anthony Joshua. It looked as if Paul was attempting to utter "Whoa!" as the severity of the impact sank in to his rattled senses.

"The fans didn't pay to see this garbage," snapped the referee, summing up the dismal affair much more succinctly than any observer else could.

Trapped in a neutral 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 enveloped him. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the punch that fractured his mandible in two distinct locations, Paul was caught in an utterly stunned moment.

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

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been knocked down, but the consequences of a clean punch meant Paul would not be able to rise and waggle his tongue defiantly before the referee waved the charade to a halt. As blood began to leak from his lips, and a dull ache radiated through his jawbone, Paul finally understood how hard, exhausting, and perilous boxing is at a respectable level of professionalism.

A Far From Impressive Victory for the Victor

Anthony Joshua, it should be stressed, was not impressive amid the bedlam. After his hollow victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that hinted at a precise and lethal execution when, in truth, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for the majority of the fight. Instead of glowering with menace or exhibiting an iron certainty, Joshua had appeared tentative and crude for almost five rounds.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a fundamental requirement in elite boxing, shaped the outcome. Without the gas to flee any more, and reduced to falling to the canvas as frequently as he could for a breather, Paul was left helpless by exhaustion. Joshua delivered the vicious finish, but, until then, he had looked like a sad imitation of the fighter he was in 2017.

The Winner's Aftermath Assessment

"That was not the finest performance," Joshua admitted. "The objective was to catch Jake Paul, pin him down and hurt him. That has been the request, and that's what was on my mind. It took a bit longer than expected, but the straight right eventually reached its target."

Joshua praised Paul's bravery but he offered an explanation for his own stilted performance. "He faced a real fighter tonight that's had a 15-month hiatus," Joshua said, mentioning his last defeat. "We shook off the rust, and I can't wait to head into 2026."

What Comes Next: Faded Forces and New Talent

In the press conference that followed, a jovial Joshua tried out a poor impression of Tyson Fury as he called for a fight against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will probably get his wish, but that bout comes much too late in their professional journeys. Both fighters are on the far side of the peak.

In stark contrast, the most compelling big men in the world are Oleksandr Usyk and the British prospect. Usyk remains the undoubted ruler of the division, after defeating both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. At the same time, Itauma is a rising force. The young British heavyweight would probably have required less than half the amount of three-minute periods that Joshua required to knock Paul into a appropriately wowed state.

The Defeated Fighter's Unbowed Reaction

But the public receives what the public wants, and that certainly means additional pitiful celebrity fights. Paul appeared truly satisfied and brash to have had his jaw broken by a sledgehammer right. In the early hours of Saturday morning, he shared an X-ray, with the pair of breaks highlighted in crimson.

That jokey nod to the Mexican superstar, a far greater fighter than Joshua but a similarly faded presence, showed that Paul's comic chutzpah is unbroken. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly find another opponent with whom he can earn north of $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before leaving for the hospital, Paul expelled a tracer of blood onto the canvas. It was one more bleak symbol of the night as Paul mangled blunt truth with gory bullshit and said: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A nice little beating from one of the greatest to ever do it. I love this sport and I'm going to come back and continue winning."