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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's mouth gaped agape, his expression turning to huge glazed saucers as he collapsed to the canvas in stunned disbelief after a devastating right hand from Anthony Joshua. It looked as if Paul was attempting to say "Whoa!" as the severity of the impact sank in to his rattled senses.

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

Pinned in a corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could no longer run or hold on to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the gravity of boxing became clear. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the punch that fractured his mandible in two separate places, Paul was caught in an utterly stunned moment.

So this is how it feels, and appears, to be hit hard by a genuine professional fighter, an Olympic gold medallist and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is certainly the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been sent to the floor, but the result of a proper punch meant Paul could not rise and taunt his opponent before the referee called the charade over. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a dull ache spread through his jawbone, Paul at last understood how difficult, exhausting, and dangerous boxing is at a decent standard of competition.

A Far From Impressive Win for Joshua

Anthony Joshua, it should be stressed, was far from convincing amid the chaos. After his empty victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that suggested a clinical and lethal finish when, in truth, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for the majority of the contest. Rather than exuding intimidation or exhibiting an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had appeared tentative and crude for nearly five stanzas.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a basic essential in elite boxing, shaped the result. Lacking the stamina to escape any more, and resorting to slipping to the canvas as often as he could for a breather, Paul was left defenseless by exhaustion. Joshua applied the vicious ending, but, up to that point, he had seemed a sad shadow of the fighter he had been in 2017.

Joshua's Aftermath Assessment

"That was not the finest performance," Joshua admitted. "The objective was to catch Jake Paul, corner him and hurt him. That has been the plan, and that's what was on my mind. It took a bit longer than anticipated, but the right hand finally reached its destination."

Joshua commended Paul's courage but he added an explanation for his own stilted performance. "He faced a genuine competitor tonight that's had a 15-month hiatus," Joshua said, referencing his last defeat. "We shook off the cobwebs, and I can't wait to head into 2026."

The Future: Past Their Prime and New Talent

In the post-fight interview that followed, a cheerful Joshua tried out a poor imitation of Tyson Fury as he demanded a fight against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will probably have his way, but that matchup comes much too late in their careers. Both fighters are on the downward slope of the peak.

In contrast, the most interesting big men in the world remain the Ukrainian master and Moses Itauma. Usyk is still the unquestioned king of the weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. At the same time, Itauma is a rising talent. The young British heavyweight likely have needed less than half the amount of rounds that Joshua required to knock Paul into a suitably wowed state.

Paul's Unbowed Response

But the fans receives what the public wants, and that certainly means additional low-quality crossover contests. Paul seemed genuinely proud and cocky to have had his mandible fractured by a hammer-like right. In the early hours of Saturday morning, he shared an radiograph, with the two fractures highlighted in red.

That jokey nod to the Mexican superstar, a far greater boxer than Joshua but a equally diminished presence, demonstrated that Paul's brazen audacity remains unbroken. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will soon find another opponent with whom he can earn more than $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before leaving for the hospital, Paul spat a streak of blood onto the canvas. It was one more grim symbol of the evening as Paul mangled blunt truth with blood-flecked bullshit and stated: "I think my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A nice little beating from one of the greatest to ever step in the ring. I adore this sport and I'm going to return and keep on winning."