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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's jaw dropped agape, his eyes becoming huge glazed saucers as he sank to the mat in shock and awe following a pulverising right hand from Anthony Joshua. It looked as if Paul was attempting to say "Wow!" as the force of the blow registered to his scrambled senses.

"The audience didn't pay to see this garbage," said the referee, encapsulating the sorry spectacle much more effectively than any observer else managed to.

Pinned in a corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could no longer run or cling to Joshua's legs like a forlorn little boy as the gravity of the sweet science became clear. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the shot that broke his jaw in two distinct locations, Paul was lost in an utterly stunned moment.

So this is how it feels, and appears, to be hit hard by a real boxer, an Olympic gold medallist and former world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is indeed the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the social media star had been sent to the floor, but the result of a clean punch meant Paul could not rise and waggle his tongue defiantly before the official waved the charade to a halt. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a numbing throb radiated through his jawbone, Paul at last grasped how difficult, exhausting, and perilous boxing is at a respectable standard of competition.

An Unimpressive Commanding Win for the Victor

Joshua, it must be noted, was far from convincing during the chaos. After his hollow victory, he made a cut-throat motion that hinted at a clinical and lethal finish when, in reality, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for most of the fight. Rather than glowering with menace or displaying an iron certainty, Joshua had appeared hesitant and crude for nearly five stanzas.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a fundamental requirement in elite boxing, dictated the outcome. Lacking the stamina to escape any longer, and reduced to slipping to the deck as frequently as he could for a breather, Paul was rendered helpless by fatigue. Joshua applied the brutal ending, but, until then, he had seemed a sad shadow of the boxer he was in 2017.

Joshua's Post-Fight Comments

"It wasn't the best display," Joshua admitted. "The end goal was to catch Jake Paul, pin him down and hurt him. 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 reached its destination."

Joshua praised Paul's courage but he offered an excuse for his own stilted performance. "He faced a genuine competitor tonight that's had a fifteen-month hiatus," Joshua said, mentioning his last loss. "We shook off the rust, and I can't wait to head into 2026."

The Future: Past Their Prime and Rising Stars

In the post-fight interview afterwards, a jovial Joshua attempted a poor impression of his domestic rival as he called for a scrap against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will likely have his way, but that bout comes far too late in their professional journeys. Both men are on the far side of the peak.

In stark contrast, the most interesting heavyweights in the world remain the Ukrainian master and Moses Itauma. Usyk is still the undoubted ruler of the weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury twice. At the same time, Itauma is a rising force. The young British heavyweight likely have needed fewer than half the number of rounds that Joshua required to knock Paul into a suitably wowed state.

The Defeated Fighter's Defiant Reaction

But the fans gets what the public wants, and that undoubtedly means more pitiful crossover contests. Paul appeared truly proud and cocky to have had his mandible fractured by a hammer-like right. In the wee hours of Saturday morning, he posted an X-ray, with the two fractures marked in red.

That lighthearted reference to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a much superior fighter than Joshua but a similarly diminished presence, demonstrated that Paul's comic chutzpah remains undented. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly locate another opponent with whom he can earn more than $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before leaving for the medical facility, Paul expelled a streak of blood onto the canvas. It was another grim summary of the evening as Paul mangled harsh reality with gory bullshit and said: "I think my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A nice little ass-whipping from one of the greatest to ever step in the ring. I adore this shit and I'm going to come back and keep on winning."