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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's mouth gaped agape, his eyes becoming huge glazed saucers as he sank to the canvas in stunned disbelief following a devastating right hand from the former champion. It appeared as if Paul was trying to utter "Whoa!" as the force of the impact registered to his scrambled senses.

"The audience didn't pay to see this crap," snapped the referee, encapsulating the sorry spectacle far more succinctly than any observer else could.

Trapped in a neutral corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could not retreat or hold on to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the gravity of boxing became clear. Instead, as he tried to absorb the shot that broke his jaw in two distinct locations, Paul was caught in an utterly stunned moment.

So this is how it is like, and looks, to be struck cleanly by a real boxer, an Olympic gold medallist and former world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is indeed the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been sent to the floor, but the consequences of a clean power shot meant Paul would not be able to get up and taunt his opponent before the official waved the charade over. As blood began to trickle from his lips, and a dull ache spread through his jaw, Paul finally grasped how hard, exhausting, and dangerous boxing is at a respectable standard of professionalism.

A Far From Impressive Win for the Victor

Anthony Joshua, it should be stressed, was far from convincing during the bedlam. After his empty victory, he made a cut-throat motion that hinted at a clinical and deadly finish when, in reality, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for most of the contest. Instead of glowering with menace or displaying an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had seemed hesitant and crude for almost five stanzas.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a fundamental requirement in top-level boxing, shaped the outcome. Lacking the stamina to flee any more, and reduced to slipping to the deck as often as he could for a breather, Paul was rendered defenseless by exhaustion. Joshua applied the vicious finish, but, until then, he had seemed a mournful shadow of the fighter he was in 2017.

Joshua's Post-Fight Comments

"That was not the best display," Joshua admitted. "The end goal was to get Jake Paul, pin him down and do damage. That has been the plan, and that's what was on my mind. It took a little more time than expected, but the straight right eventually found its destination."

Joshua commended Paul's courage but he added an excuse for his own labored performance. "He came up against a genuine competitor tonight that's had a 15-month hiatus," Joshua said, mentioning his previous loss. "We shook off the cobwebs, and I can't wait to roll into 2026."

The Future: Faded Forces and New Talent

In the post-fight interview afterwards, a cheerful Joshua tried out a poor impression of his domestic rival as he called for a scrap against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will likely have his way, but that bout comes far too late in their careers. Both fighters are on the downward slope of the peak.

In contrast, the most interesting big men in the world remain Oleksandr Usyk and Moses Itauma. Usyk is still the undoubted king of the division, having beaten both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. At the same time, Itauma is a rapidly ascending talent. The youthful British heavyweight would probably have required fewer than half the amount of three-minute periods that Joshua required to knock Paul into a suitably astonished stupor.

Paul's Unbowed Reaction

But the fans receives what the public wants, and that certainly means more pitiful celebrity contests. Paul appeared truly proud and cocky to have had his jaw broken by a sledgehammer right. In the early hours of the next day, he posted an X-ray, with the pair of breaks marked in crimson.

That lighthearted reference to the Mexican superstar, a far greater fighter than Joshua but a similarly diminished presence, demonstrated that Paul's brazen audacity is unbroken. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will soon find another opponent with whom he can earn north of $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before leaving for the medical facility, Paul spat a tracer of blood onto the canvas. It was another bleak summary of the evening as Paul mangled harsh reality with blood-flecked bullshit and said: "I think my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A nice little ass-whipping from one of the greatest to ever do it. I adore this shit and I'm going to return and continue winning."