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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 stunned disbelief following a pulverising right hand from the former champion. It looked as if Paul was attempting to utter "Wow!" as the force of the blow sank in to his rattled senses.

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

Pinned in a neutral corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could not retreat or cling to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the gravity of the sweet science enveloped him. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the punch that fractured his mandible in two distinct locations, Paul was caught in an completely stunned moment.

So that is what it is like, and appears, to be hit hard by a genuine professional fighter, an Olympic gold medallist and former world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is certainly the word.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been sent to the floor, but the result of a proper punch ensured Paul would not be able to get up and taunt his opponent before the referee called the charade over. As blood began to trickle from his mouth, and a dull ache spread through his jawbone, Paul at last understood how difficult, grueling, and dangerous boxing is at a respectable standard of competition.

A Far From Commanding Win for Joshua

Joshua, it should be stressed, was far from convincing amid the chaos. After his empty victory, he performed a throat-slitting gesture that hinted at a precise and deadly finish when, in reality, Joshua had appeared exasperated for most of the fight. Instead of glowering with menace or exhibiting an iron certainty, Joshua had seemed tentative and awkward for almost five rounds.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a basic essential in top-level boxing, shaped the outcome. Lacking the stamina to flee any more, and resorting to falling to the canvas as often as he could for a breather, Paul was rendered helpless by fatigue. Joshua applied the brutal finish, but, up to that point, he had looked like a sad shadow of the boxer he was in 2017.

Joshua's Aftermath Comments

"That was not the best performance," Joshua conceded. "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 anticipated, but the right hand eventually found its destination."

Joshua praised Paul's courage but he offered an explanation for his own stilted showing. "He faced a genuine competitor tonight that's had a 15-month layoff," Joshua said, referencing his last defeat. "We dusted off the rust, and I can't wait to roll into 2026."

The Future: Past Their Prime and New Talent

In the press conference that followed, a jovial Joshua tried out a poor imitation of his domestic rival as he called for a scrap against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will likely get his wish, but that matchup comes much too late in their professional journeys. Both fighters are on the downward slope of the peak.

In contrast, the most compelling big men in the world are Oleksandr Usyk and the British prospect. Usyk remains the undoubted king of the weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rising talent. The youthful British heavyweight likely have needed less than half the number of rounds that Joshua needed to knock Paul into a suitably wowed stupor.

Paul's Unbowed Reaction

But the public receives what the public desires, and that undoubtedly means additional low-quality celebrity contests. Paul appeared genuinely proud and brash to have had his mandible fractured by a sledgehammer right. In the wee hours of Saturday morning, he shared an radiograph, with the two fractures marked in crimson.

That lighthearted reference to the Mexican superstar, a much superior fighter than Joshua but a equally faded presence, showed that Paul's comic chutzpah remains unbroken. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will soon locate another opponent with whom he can earn more than $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before leaving for the hospital, Paul expelled a streak of blood onto the ring floor. It was one more bleak summary of the evening as Paul mixed blunt truth with blood-flecked bravado and said: "I think my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A nice little ass-whipping from one of the best to ever do it. I love this shit and I'm going to come back and keep on winning."