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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's jaw dropped agape, his expression turning to huge glazed saucers 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 say "Wow!" as the severity of the blow sank in to his scrambled senses.

"The audience didn't spend money to see this garbage," snapped the referee, encapsulating the sorry affair far more succinctly than anyone else managed to.

Pinned in a corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could no longer run or hold on to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the serious reality of the sweet science enveloped him. Instead, as he tried to absorb the punch that fractured his mandible in two distinct locations, Paul was lost in an completely dazed moment.

So this is how it feels, and appears, to be hit hard by a genuine boxer, an Olympic gold medallist and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is indeed the word.

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 get up and waggle his tongue defiantly before the referee waved the contest over. As blood began to trickle from his lips, and a numbing throb spread through his jaw, Paul at last grasped how difficult, grueling, and perilous boxing is at a decent standard of competition.

A Far From Impressive Victory for the Victor

Joshua, it should be stressed, was far from convincing during the bedlam. After his empty victory, he made a cut-throat motion that hinted at a clinical and deadly execution when, in reality, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for the majority of the contest. Rather than glowering with menace or exhibiting an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had appeared hesitant and crude for almost five rounds.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a fundamental requirement in top-level boxing, dictated the outcome. Without the gas to flee any longer, and reduced to falling to the deck as often as he could for a rest, Paul was rendered helpless by fatigue. Joshua delivered the vicious ending, but, up to that point, he had looked like a mournful imitation of the fighter he was in 2017.

The Winner's Aftermath Assessment

"It wasn't the best performance," Joshua admitted. "The end goal was to get Jake Paul, pin him down 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 finally reached its destination."

Joshua commended Paul's bravery but he added an excuse for his own stilted showing. "He came up against a genuine competitor tonight that's had a fifteen-month hiatus," Joshua said, mentioning his previous loss. "We shook off the rust, and I am eager to roll into 2026."

What Comes Next: Faded Forces and New Talent

In the post-fight interview afterwards, a cheerful Joshua tried out a woeful impression of his domestic rival as he demanded a scrap against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will probably get his wish, but that bout comes much too late in their professional journeys. Both men are on the far side of the hill.

In contrast, the most interesting 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 required fewer than half the amount of three-minute periods that Joshua required to send Paul into a suitably wowed stupor.

The Defeated Fighter's Unbowed Response

But the public gets what the public wants, and that certainly means additional pitiful crossover contests. Paul seemed truly satisfied and brash to have had his jaw broken by a sledgehammer right. In the wee hours of Saturday morning, he posted an X-ray, with the two fractures marked in crimson.

That lighthearted reference to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a far greater fighter than Joshua but a equally diminished force, showed that Paul's comic chutzpah remains unbroken. It may 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 leaving for the hospital, Paul expelled a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was another bleak symbol of the evening as Paul mixed harsh reality with gory bullshit and stated: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A proper beating from one of the best to ever step in the ring. I adore this shit and I'm going to return and keep on winning."