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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's jaw dropped wide open, his expression turning to wide, stunned circles as he sank to the mat in shock and awe after a pulverising right hand from the former champion. It appeared as if Paul was trying to utter "Wow!" as the severity of the impact sank in to his scrambled senses.

"The fans didn't pay to see this rubbish," snapped the referee, encapsulating the sorry affair much more effectively than anyone else could.

Pinned in a corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could no longer retreat or hold on to Joshua's legs like a forlorn little boy as the gravity of boxing became clear. Instead, as he tried to absorb the punch that broke his jaw in two separate places, Paul was caught in an utterly dazed moment.

So that is what it is like, and appears, to be hit hard by a real boxer, an Olympic champion and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is certainly the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the social media star had been sent to the floor, but the result of a clean power shot meant Paul could not get up and taunt his opponent before the official called the contest to a halt. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a numbing throb spread through his jaw, Paul finally grasped how hard, exhausting, and perilous boxing is at a respectable level of competition.

A Far From Impressive Win for the Victor

Joshua, it should be stressed, was far from convincing during the chaos. After his hollow victory, he performed a cut-throat motion that hinted at a precise and lethal finish when, in reality, Joshua had appeared exasperated for most of the fight. Rather than exuding intimidation or exhibiting an iron certainty, Joshua had seemed tentative and awkward for nearly five stanzas.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a basic essential in elite boxing, shaped the outcome. Without the gas to escape any more, and resorting to slipping to the canvas as often as he could for a rest, Paul was rendered defenseless by exhaustion. Joshua applied the brutal finish, but, up to that point, he had looked like a sad imitation of the fighter he had been in 2017.

Joshua's Post-Fight Comments

"It wasn't the best performance," Joshua conceded. "The objective 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 anticipated, but the right hand finally reached its target."

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

What Comes Next: Past Their Prime and New Talent

In the post-fight interview that followed, a jovial Joshua tried out a woeful impression of his domestic rival as he called for a fight against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will probably have his way, but that matchup comes far too late in their professional journeys. Both men are on the downward slope of the peak.

In contrast, the most compelling big men in the world remain Oleksandr Usyk and the British prospect. Usyk remains the undoubted king of the division, after defeating both Joshua and Fury twice. At the same time, Itauma is a rising force. The young British heavyweight would probably have required fewer than half the number of three-minute periods that Joshua required to send Paul into a suitably astonished state.

Paul's Unbowed Response

But the fans gets what the public desires, and that undoubtedly means additional pitiful crossover contests. Paul appeared genuinely proud and cocky to have had his jaw broken by a hammer-like right. In the early hours of the next day, he posted an radiograph, with the pair of breaks marked in crimson.

That jokey nod to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a far greater fighter than Joshua but a similarly faded presence, demonstrated that Paul's brazen audacity is undented. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly find someone else with whom he can earn more than $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before departing to the medical facility, Paul expelled a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was one more bleak summary of the evening as Paul mixed blunt truth with gory bullshit and stated: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A nice little beating from one of the greatest to ever do it. I adore this sport and I'm going to return and continue winning."