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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's mouth gaped agape, his expression turning to wide, stunned circles as he sank to the mat in stunned disbelief after a devastating right hand from Anthony Joshua. It appeared as if Paul was attempting to utter "Wow!" as the force of the impact sank in to his scrambled senses.

"The fans didn't spend money to see this rubbish," said the referee, summing up the sorry spectacle much more succinctly than anyone else managed to.

Pinned in a 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 gravity of the sweet science enveloped him. 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 genuine professional fighter, an Olympic champion and former world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is certainly the word.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been knocked down, but the result of a proper punch ensured Paul would not be able to rise and taunt his opponent before the referee waved the charade to a halt. As blood began to trickle from his mouth, and a dull ache radiated through his jaw, Paul finally understood how hard, grueling, and dangerous boxing is at a respectable level of competition.

An Unimpressive Impressive Victory for the Victor

Anthony Joshua, it must be noted, was far from convincing amid the chaos. After his hollow victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that suggested a precise and lethal execution when, in truth, Joshua had appeared exasperated for the majority of the contest. Instead of glowering with menace or exhibiting an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had appeared hesitant and crude for nearly five stanzas.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a fundamental requirement in top-level boxing, shaped the result. Without the gas to escape any longer, and reduced to slipping to the canvas as frequently as he could for a rest, Paul was rendered defenseless by exhaustion. Joshua delivered the brutal finish, but, until then, he had looked like a mournful imitation of the boxer he had been in 2017.

Joshua's Post-Fight Assessment

"That was not the finest 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 little more time than anticipated, but the straight right finally reached its target."

Joshua commended Paul's courage but he offered an explanation for his own stilted performance. "He faced a real fighter tonight that's had a 15-month layoff," Joshua said, referencing his previous loss. "We shook off the cobwebs, and I am eager to roll into 2026."

The Future: Past Their Prime and Rising Stars

In the post-fight interview that followed, a jovial Joshua attempted a poor imitation of his domestic rival as he called for a scrap against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will probably get his wish, but that matchup comes much too late in their careers. Both fighters are on the far side of the hill.

In stark contrast, the most compelling heavyweights in the world are Oleksandr Usyk and the British prospect. Usyk is still the unquestioned king of the weight class, after defeating both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. At the same time, Itauma is a rising talent. The youthful British heavyweight would probably have needed less than half the amount of three-minute periods that Joshua needed to send Paul into a appropriately astonished stupor.

The Defeated Fighter's Defiant Response

But the fans gets what the public desires, and that certainly means more low-quality crossover fights. Paul appeared genuinely proud and brash to have had his mandible fractured by a hammer-like right. In the wee hours of the next day, he posted an X-ray, with the two fractures marked in red.

That lighthearted reference to the Mexican superstar, a much superior boxer than Joshua but a equally faded presence, demonstrated that Paul's brazen audacity remains unbroken. It may 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 leaving for the medical facility, Paul expelled a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was another bleak symbol of the evening as Paul mixed blunt truth with blood-flecked bullshit and said: "I think my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A proper beating from one of the best to ever step in the ring. I love this sport and I'm going to return and keep on winning."