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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's mouth gaped agape, his expression turning to huge glazed saucers as he sank to the canvas in shock and awe after a pulverising right hand from Anthony Joshua. It appeared as if Paul was attempting to utter "Whoa!" as the severity of the blow sank in to his rattled senses.

"The audience didn't spend money to see this rubbish," said the referee, summing up the sorry spectacle much more succinctly than any observer else could.

Trapped in a corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could not retreat or cling to Joshua's legs like a forlorn little boy as the gravity of the sweet science enveloped him. Instead, as he tried to absorb the punch that broke his jaw in two separate places, Paul was lost in an utterly dazed moment.

So that is what it is like, and appears, to be struck cleanly by a genuine professional fighter, an Olympic gold medallist and former world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is certainly the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been knocked down, but the result of a clean power shot ensured Paul could not rise and taunt his opponent before the referee waved the contest 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 perilous boxing is at a decent level of competition.

A Far From Commanding Victory for Joshua

Anthony Joshua, it should be stressed, was far from convincing during the chaos. After his empty victory, he performed a cut-throat motion that suggested a precise and deadly finish when, in truth, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for most of the fight. Instead of glowering with menace or displaying an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had seemed hesitant and crude for almost five rounds.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a fundamental requirement in top-level boxing, shaped the result. Lacking the stamina to escape any more, and resorting to falling to the deck as frequently as he could for a breather, Paul was rendered helpless by exhaustion. Joshua applied the vicious finish, but, until then, he had seemed a sad shadow of the fighter he had been in 2017.

The Winner's Aftermath Assessment

"It wasn't the best performance," Joshua admitted. "The end goal was to catch 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 expected, but the straight right finally reached its destination."

Joshua commended Paul's bravery but he offered an explanation for his own stilted performance. "He came up against a genuine competitor tonight that's had a fifteen-month layoff," Joshua said, referencing his last loss. "We shook off the rust, and I am eager to head into 2026."

The Future: Past Their Prime and Rising Stars

In the post-fight interview afterwards, a jovial Joshua attempted a woeful imitation 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 professional journeys. Both fighters are on the downward slope of the peak.

In stark contrast, the most compelling heavyweights in the world are the Ukrainian master and Moses Itauma. Usyk remains the unquestioned king of the weight class, after defeating both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. At the same time, Itauma is a rapidly ascending force. 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.

The Defeated Fighter's Defiant Response

But the fans gets what the public desires, and that certainly means more low-quality celebrity contests. Paul appeared truly proud and cocky to have had his jaw broken by a sledgehammer right. In the early hours of Saturday morning, he posted an X-ray, with the two fractures highlighted in red.

That lighthearted reference to the Mexican superstar, a far greater boxer than Joshua but a similarly diminished presence, demonstrated that Paul's brazen audacity remains undented. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will soon find someone else with whom he can make more than $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before departing to the medical facility, Paul spat a streak of blood onto the ring floor. It was another bleak summary of the evening as Paul mangled blunt truth with blood-flecked bullshit and stated: "I think my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A proper beating from one of the best to ever step in the ring. I adore this shit and I'm going to return and keep on winning."