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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 shock and awe following a pulverising right hand from Anthony Joshua. It looked as if Paul was attempting to utter "Whoa!" as the force of the blow registered to his rattled senses.

"Those watching didn't spend money to see this garbage," snapped the referee, summing up the dismal affair far more effectively than any observer else could.

Trapped in a neutral corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could no longer retreat or cling to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the serious reality of the sweet science became clear. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the shot that fractured his mandible in two separate places, Paul was caught in an completely dazed moment.

So that is what it feels, and looks, to be hit hard by a real professional fighter, an Olympic champion and former world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is certainly the word.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been knocked down, but the result of a proper punch meant Paul would not be able to get up and taunt his opponent before the referee waved the contest to a halt. As blood began to leak from his lips, and a dull ache spread through his jawbone, Paul at last understood how difficult, exhausting, and dangerous boxing is at a respectable level of competition.

A Far From Commanding Win for the Victor

Joshua, it should be stressed, was not impressive amid the chaos. After his empty victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that hinted at a clinical and deadly execution when, in truth, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for most of the contest. Instead of glowering with menace or exhibiting an iron certainty, Joshua had seemed hesitant and crude for nearly five rounds.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a fundamental requirement in top-level boxing, dictated the result. Without the gas to flee any longer, and resorting to falling to the canvas as often as he could for a rest, Paul was left defenseless by exhaustion. Joshua applied the brutal ending, but, until then, he had looked like a mournful shadow of the fighter he was in 2017.

Joshua's Aftermath Assessment

"That was not the finest display," Joshua admitted. "The objective was to get Jake Paul, corner him and hurt him. That has been the request, and that's what was on my thoughts. It took a bit longer than anticipated, but the right hand finally reached its target."

Joshua praised Paul's bravery but he offered an excuse for his own stilted showing. "He came up against a genuine competitor tonight that's had a fifteen-month layoff," Joshua said, mentioning his previous defeat. "We shook off the cobwebs, and I can't wait to head into 2026."

The Future: Faded Forces and New Talent

In the press conference afterwards, a cheerful Joshua tried out a poor impression of Tyson Fury as he called for a fight against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will likely get his wish, but that matchup comes far too late in their careers. Both men are on the far side of the peak.

In contrast, the most interesting big men in the world remain the Ukrainian master and Moses Itauma. Usyk remains the undoubted king of the weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury twice. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rapidly ascending force. The youthful British heavyweight likely have required less than half the number of three-minute periods that Joshua required to knock Paul into a appropriately astonished stupor.

The Defeated Fighter's Defiant Reaction

But the fans gets what the public desires, and that certainly means additional low-quality crossover contests. Paul appeared truly satisfied and cocky to have had his mandible fractured by a sledgehammer right. In the early hours of the next day, he shared an radiograph, with the two fractures marked in red.

That lighthearted reference to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a far greater fighter than Joshua but a equally diminished force, demonstrated that Paul's comic chutzpah is undented. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly find another opponent with whom he can make more than $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before departing to the hospital, Paul expelled a streak of blood onto the ring floor. It was another bleak summary of the night as Paul mixed harsh reality with gory bravado and said: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A proper beating from one of the greatest to ever do it. I love this shit and I'm going to return and keep on winning."