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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's jaw dropped agape, his expression turning to huge glazed saucers as he collapsed to the mat in shock and awe after a devastating right hand from the former champion. It appeared as if Paul was trying to say "Whoa!" as the force of the blow sank in to his scrambled senses.

"The audience didn't pay to see this garbage," said the referee, summing up the sorry spectacle much more effectively than anyone else managed to.

Pinned in a neutral corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could not run or hold on to Joshua's legs like a forlorn little boy as the gravity of the sweet science enveloped him. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the punch that broke his jaw in two distinct locations, Paul was caught in an completely stunned moment.

So that is what it is like, and appears, to be struck cleanly by a real professional fighter, an Olympic champion and former world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is certainly the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the social media star had been knocked down, but the consequences of a proper power shot ensured Paul could not get up and taunt his opponent before the referee waved the contest over. As blood began to leak from his lips, and a numbing throb spread through his jawbone, Paul at last grasped how hard, exhausting, and dangerous boxing is at a respectable level of professionalism.

An Unimpressive Impressive Victory for Joshua

Joshua, it should be stressed, was not impressive amid the chaos. After his empty 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. Instead of glowering with menace or exhibiting an iron certainty, Joshua had seemed tentative and crude for almost five rounds.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a basic essential in elite boxing, shaped the result. Without the gas to flee any more, and reduced to slipping to the canvas as frequently as he could for a rest, Paul was left defenseless by exhaustion. Joshua applied the brutal ending, but, until then, he had seemed a mournful shadow of the boxer he was in 2017.

The Winner's Post-Fight Comments

"It wasn't the finest display," Joshua conceded. "The end goal was to catch Jake Paul, corner him and do damage. That has been the request, and that's what was on my mind. It took a bit longer than expected, but the right hand finally reached its target."

Joshua commended Paul's courage but he added an explanation for his own labored performance. "He came up against a genuine competitor tonight that's had a 15-month layoff," Joshua said, referencing his previous defeat. "We dusted off the rust, and I am eager to roll into 2026."

The Future: Past Their Prime and New Talent

In the post-fight interview that followed, a jovial Joshua attempted a poor impression of Tyson Fury as he called for a fight against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will likely have his way, but that matchup comes far too late in their professional journeys. Both men are on the far side of the hill.

In contrast, the most interesting big men in the world remain the Ukrainian master and the British prospect. Usyk remains the unquestioned ruler of the weight class, after defeating both Joshua and Fury twice. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rising talent. The youthful British heavyweight would probably have needed fewer than half the number of three-minute periods that Joshua required to knock Paul into a appropriately wowed stupor.

The Defeated Fighter's Unbowed Reaction

But the fans receives what the public desires, and that certainly means more low-quality crossover contests. Paul seemed truly proud and brash to have had his mandible fractured by a hammer-like right. In the early hours of the next day, he posted an X-ray, with the two fractures highlighted in red.

That lighthearted nod to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a far greater fighter than Joshua but a equally diminished force, showed that Paul's brazen audacity remains unbroken. 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 leaving for the medical facility, Paul spat a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was one more grim symbol of the evening as Paul mixed harsh reality with gory bravado and stated: "I think my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A proper ass-whipping from one of the greatest to ever do it. I love this shit and I'm going to return and keep on winning."