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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's jaw dropped wide open, his eyes becoming huge glazed saucers as he collapsed to the canvas in shock and awe after a devastating right hand from the former champion. It appeared as if Paul was trying to say "Wow!" as the force of the blow sank in to his rattled senses.

"Those watching didn't pay to see this rubbish," said the referee, summing up the dismal spectacle far 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 hold on 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 separate places, Paul was caught in an utterly stunned moment.

So this is how it is like, and looks, to be struck cleanly by a real boxer, an Olympic champion and former world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is indeed the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been sent to the floor, but the consequences of a proper punch meant Paul would not be able to rise and taunt his opponent before the official waved the contest to a halt. As blood began to trickle from his mouth, and a numbing throb radiated through his jawbone, Paul finally understood how hard, grueling, and dangerous boxing is at a decent level of competition.

An Unimpressive Impressive Victory for Joshua

Joshua, it must be noted, was not impressive amid the bedlam. After his hollow victory, he made a cut-throat motion that suggested a clinical and deadly execution when, in reality, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for most of the fight. Rather than glowering with menace or exhibiting an iron certainty, Joshua had appeared tentative and crude for nearly five stanzas.

Paul's lack of conditioning, 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 breather, Paul was rendered defenseless by fatigue. Joshua applied the vicious ending, but, up to that point, he had looked like a mournful shadow of the boxer he was in 2017.

Joshua's Aftermath Comments

"That was not 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 bit longer than expected, but the right hand eventually reached its target."

Joshua praised Paul's bravery but he offered an explanation for his own labored performance. "He came up against a real fighter tonight that's had a 15-month hiatus," Joshua said, referencing his last defeat. "We shook off the cobwebs, and I am eager to head into 2026."

The Future: Past Their Prime and New Talent

In the post-fight interview that followed, a cheerful Joshua attempted a woeful imitation of his domestic rival as he called for a scrap against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will likely get his wish, but that matchup comes far too late in their careers. Both men are on the downward slope of the peak.

In contrast, the most interesting heavyweights in the world remain the Ukrainian master and Moses Itauma. Usyk remains the undoubted king of the weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury twice. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rapidly ascending talent. The youthful British heavyweight likely have needed less than half the amount of three-minute periods that Joshua required to knock Paul into a suitably astonished state.

The Defeated Fighter's Unbowed Response

But the public gets what the public desires, and that undoubtedly means more low-quality crossover contests. Paul appeared truly proud and cocky to have had his mandible fractured by a hammer-like right. In the wee hours of the next day, he posted an X-ray, with the pair of breaks highlighted in red.

That jokey nod to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a much superior fighter than Joshua but a similarly diminished presence, showed that Paul's comic chutzpah remains unbroken. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will soon locate someone else with whom he can earn more than $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before leaving for the hospital, Paul spat a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was one more bleak summary of the night as Paul mixed blunt truth with gory bravado and stated: "I think my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A nice little beating from one of the best to ever do it. I love this sport and I'm going to return and continue winning."