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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's jaw dropped agape, his expression turning to wide, stunned circles as he collapsed to the mat in stunned disbelief after a pulverising right hand from the former champion. It looked as if Paul was trying to utter "Wow!" as the severity of the blow registered to his rattled senses.

"The audience didn't spend money to see this crap," snapped the referee, summing up the dismal spectacle much more effectively than anyone else managed to.

Pinned in a 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 became clear. Instead, as he tried to absorb the punch 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 gold medallist and former world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is certainly the word.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been knocked down, but the consequences of a proper punch meant Paul could not get up and taunt his opponent before the referee called the contest to a halt. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a dull ache radiated through his jawbone, Paul finally understood how difficult, grueling, and dangerous boxing is at a respectable standard of professionalism.

A Far From Impressive Victory for Joshua

Joshua, it should be stressed, was not impressive during the chaos. After his empty victory, he performed a throat-slitting gesture that suggested a precise and lethal finish when, in reality, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for most of the fight. Rather than exuding intimidation or displaying an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had appeared hesitant and crude for nearly five rounds.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a basic essential in top-level boxing, shaped the result. Without the gas to flee any more, and resorting to slipping to the deck as often as he could for a breather, Paul was rendered defenseless by fatigue. Joshua applied the vicious ending, but, up to that point, he had looked like a sad shadow of the fighter he had been in 2017.

Joshua's Aftermath Assessment

"It wasn't the finest display," Joshua admitted. "The end goal 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 little more time than expected, but the right hand eventually reached its target."

Joshua praised Paul's courage but he added an excuse for his own labored showing. "He faced a real fighter tonight that's had a fifteen-month hiatus," Joshua said, mentioning his last defeat. "We shook off the cobwebs, and I can't wait to roll into 2026."

The Future: Past Their Prime and New Talent

In the press conference afterwards, a cheerful Joshua attempted a woeful impression of his domestic rival as he called for a fight against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will likely get his wish, but that bout comes much too late in their professional journeys. Both men are on the far side of the hill.

In contrast, the most interesting heavyweights in the world are Oleksandr Usyk and the British prospect. Usyk remains the undoubted ruler of the weight class, after defeating both Joshua and Fury twice. At the same time, Itauma is a rising force. The young British heavyweight likely have required fewer than half the amount of rounds that Joshua needed to knock Paul into a appropriately astonished stupor.

The Defeated Fighter's Defiant Reaction

But the fans receives what the public wants, and that certainly means additional pitiful crossover fights. Paul seemed genuinely proud and cocky to have had his jaw broken by a hammer-like right. In the early hours of Saturday morning, he shared an X-ray, with the two fractures marked in red.

That lighthearted reference to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a much superior boxer than Joshua but a similarly faded force, showed that Paul's brazen audacity is unbroken. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly locate someone else with whom he can make north of $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before leaving for the medical facility, Paul spat a streak of blood onto the ring floor. It was another bleak summary of the night as Paul mixed harsh reality with blood-flecked bravado and stated: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A nice little beating from one of the best to ever step in the ring. I adore this shit and I'm going to come back and continue winning."