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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's jaw dropped agape, his eyes becoming huge glazed saucers as he collapsed to the canvas in stunned disbelief after a devastating right hand from the former champion. It appeared as if Paul was trying to say "Wow!" as the force of the impact registered to his scrambled senses.

"The audience didn't spend money to see this rubbish," snapped the referee, summing up the sorry affair much more succinctly than any observer else managed to.

Trapped in a neutral corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could no longer retreat or hold on to Joshua's legs like a forlorn little boy as the serious reality of the sweet science enveloped him. Instead, as he tried to absorb the punch that fractured his mandible in two separate places, Paul was lost in an utterly stunned moment.

So that is what it is like, and looks, to be struck cleanly by a genuine boxer, an Olympic champion and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is indeed the word.

It was the fourth time the social media star had been knocked down, but the consequences of a proper punch meant Paul would not be able to rise and taunt his opponent before the official called the charade over. As blood began to trickle from his mouth, and a numbing throb radiated through his jaw, Paul finally understood how hard, exhausting, and perilous boxing is at a decent level of professionalism.

A Far From Commanding Victory for the Victor

Joshua, it should be stressed, was far from convincing during the chaos. After his hollow victory, he performed a throat-slitting gesture that suggested a precise and lethal finish when, in reality, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for the majority of the contest. Rather than glowering with menace or exhibiting an iron certainty, Joshua had appeared hesitant and crude for nearly five rounds.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a fundamental requirement in top-level boxing, shaped the result. Without the gas to flee any more, and resorting to falling to the canvas as often as he could for a breather, Paul was left defenseless by exhaustion. Joshua applied the vicious finish, but, until then, he had looked like a sad shadow of the fighter he had been in 2017.

The Winner's Post-Fight Comments

"That was not the finest performance," Joshua conceded. "The objective was to get Jake Paul, corner him and do damage. 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 found its target."

Joshua commended Paul's courage but he added an excuse for his own labored performance. "He faced a real fighter tonight that's had a 15-month hiatus," Joshua said, referencing his previous loss. "We dusted off the cobwebs, and I am eager to head into 2026."

What Comes Next: Past Their Prime and Rising Stars

In the press conference that followed, a jovial Joshua tried out a woeful imitation of his domestic rival as he demanded a scrap against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will likely get his wish, but that matchup comes far too late in their professional journeys. Both fighters are on the downward slope of the hill.

In stark contrast, the most compelling big men in the world remain the Ukrainian master and the British prospect. Usyk is still the undoubted king of the division, after defeating both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. At the same time, Itauma is a rapidly ascending talent. The young British heavyweight likely have required fewer than half the number of three-minute periods that Joshua required to knock Paul into a appropriately astonished stupor.

Paul's Unbowed Response

But the fans gets what the public wants, and that undoubtedly means more low-quality crossover fights. Paul seemed truly satisfied and brash to have had his jaw broken by a sledgehammer right. In the early hours of the next day, he posted an radiograph, with the pair of breaks highlighted in red.

That lighthearted reference to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a far greater boxer than Joshua but a equally faded presence, demonstrated that Paul's brazen audacity remains undented. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will soon find someone else with whom he can make north of $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before departing to the medical facility, Paul expelled a tracer of blood onto the canvas. It was one more bleak symbol of the night as Paul mangled blunt truth with blood-flecked bravado and said: "I think my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A proper ass-whipping from one of the best to ever step in the ring. I love this sport and I'm going to return and continue winning."