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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's jaw dropped wide open, his expression turning to wide, stunned circles as he sank to the canvas in stunned disbelief following a devastating right hand from the former champion. It appeared as if Paul was attempting to utter "Whoa!" as the severity of the impact sank in to his scrambled senses.

"The fans didn't pay to see this rubbish," snapped the referee, summing up the sorry affair much more effectively than anyone else managed to.

Pinned in a neutral corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could no longer retreat or cling to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the serious reality of the sweet science became clear. Instead, as he attempted to withstand 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 hit hard by a genuine boxer, an Olympic gold medallist and former world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is indeed the word.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been knocked down, but the consequences of a clean punch ensured Paul would not be able to get up and waggle his tongue defiantly before the referee called the contest to a halt. As blood began to leak from his lips, and a numbing throb spread through his jaw, Paul finally understood how hard, grueling, and perilous boxing is at a respectable level of competition.

An Unimpressive Commanding Win for Joshua

Anthony Joshua, it should be stressed, was not impressive amid the chaos. After his empty victory, he performed a cut-throat motion that hinted at a clinical and lethal finish when, in truth, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for the majority of the fight. Rather than glowering with menace or displaying an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had appeared hesitant and awkward for almost five stanzas.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a fundamental requirement in top-level boxing, shaped the outcome. Lacking the stamina to escape any more, and resorting to falling to the deck as often as he could for a rest, Paul was left defenseless by exhaustion. Joshua delivered the vicious finish, but, up to that point, he had looked like a sad imitation of the fighter he had been in 2017.

The Winner's Post-Fight Assessment

"That was not the best 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 mind. It took a little more time than anticipated, but the right hand eventually reached its destination."

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

The Future: Faded Forces and New Talent

In the press conference afterwards, a cheerful Joshua tried out a woeful 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 much too late in their professional journeys. Both fighters are on the downward slope of the peak.

In stark contrast, the most interesting big men in the world remain Oleksandr Usyk and Moses Itauma. Usyk is still the unquestioned king of the division, having beaten both Joshua and Fury twice. At the same time, Itauma is a rising force. The young British heavyweight likely have required fewer than half the amount of three-minute periods that Joshua required to send Paul into a appropriately wowed stupor.

Paul's Defiant Response

But the public gets what the public desires, and that undoubtedly means more pitiful celebrity fights. Paul seemed truly proud and cocky to have had his jaw broken by a hammer-like right. In the wee hours of Saturday morning, he posted an X-ray, with the pair of breaks highlighted in crimson.

That jokey reference to the Mexican superstar, a much superior boxer than Joshua but a similarly diminished presence, demonstrated that Paul's comic chutzpah remains undented. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will soon find another opponent with whom he can make north of $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before departing to the medical facility, Paul expelled a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was another grim symbol of the night as Paul mangled blunt truth with blood-flecked bravado and stated: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A proper beating from one of the greatest to ever step in the ring. I love this shit and I'm going to come back and keep on winning."