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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's jaw dropped agape, his eyes becoming wide, stunned circles as he collapsed to the canvas in shock and awe following a devastating right hand from Anthony Joshua. It looked as if Paul was trying to utter "Whoa!" as the severity of the impact registered to his scrambled senses.

"Those watching didn't spend money to see this rubbish," said the referee, encapsulating the sorry spectacle far 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 like a forlorn little boy as the serious reality of boxing became clear. Instead, as he tried to absorb the punch that broke his jaw in two distinct locations, Paul was lost in an completely dazed moment.

So this is how it feels, and appears, to be struck cleanly by a real professional fighter, an Olympic champion and former world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is certainly the word.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been sent to the floor, but the consequences of a proper punch meant Paul could not rise and waggle his tongue defiantly before the referee called the charade to a halt. As blood began to leak from his lips, and a dull ache radiated through his jawbone, Paul finally grasped how hard, grueling, and perilous boxing is at a respectable standard of competition.

A Far From Impressive Win for the Victor

Anthony Joshua, it must be noted, was not impressive during the chaos. After his hollow victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that hinted at 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 displaying an iron certainty, Joshua had seemed hesitant and crude for almost five stanzas.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a fundamental requirement in elite boxing, shaped the outcome. Lacking the stamina to escape any more, and reduced to slipping to the canvas as frequently as he could for a breather, Paul was left helpless by fatigue. Joshua applied the brutal ending, but, until then, he had seemed a mournful imitation of the fighter he was in 2017.

The Winner's Post-Fight Assessment

"It wasn't the finest display," Joshua conceded. "The end goal was to get Jake Paul, corner him and hurt him. That has been the plan, and that's what was on my thoughts. It took a little more time than expected, but the straight right eventually reached its destination."

Joshua commended Paul's courage but he offered an explanation for his own stilted performance. "He came up against a genuine competitor tonight that's had a 15-month hiatus," Joshua said, mentioning his previous loss. "We shook off the rust, and I can't wait to head 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 Tyson Fury as he demanded a scrap against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will probably have his way, but that matchup comes far too late in their careers. Both men are on the downward slope of the peak.

In contrast, the most compelling heavyweights in the world remain Oleksandr Usyk and Moses Itauma. Usyk is still the undoubted ruler of the weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. At the same time, Itauma is a rising talent. The youthful British heavyweight would probably have needed fewer than half the number of rounds that Joshua needed to send Paul into a appropriately astonished stupor.

Paul's Defiant Reaction

But the fans receives what the public wants, and that certainly means additional pitiful crossover fights. Paul seemed genuinely satisfied and cocky to have had his mandible fractured by a hammer-like right. In the early hours of the next day, he shared an X-ray, with the pair of breaks highlighted in crimson.

That lighthearted nod to the Mexican superstar, a much superior fighter than Joshua but a similarly diminished presence, demonstrated that Paul's comic chutzpah remains unbroken. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will soon find someone else with whom he can earn more than $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before departing to the medical facility, Paul spat a tracer of blood onto the canvas. It was another grim symbol of the night as Paul mangled blunt truth with gory bullshit and said: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A nice little beating from one of the greatest to ever do it. I love this sport and I'm going to return and keep on winning."