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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's mouth gaped wide open, his expression turning to wide, stunned circles as he sank to the mat in shock and awe following a pulverising right hand from Anthony Joshua. It appeared as if Paul was trying to say "Wow!" as the force of the blow sank in to his rattled senses.

"Those watching didn't spend money to see this crap," snapped the referee, encapsulating the sorry affair much more succinctly than anyone else could.

Trapped in a corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could no longer retreat or cling to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the gravity of boxing became clear. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the punch that fractured his mandible in two distinct locations, Paul was caught in an completely stunned moment.

So that is what it feels, and looks, 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 sent to the floor, but the consequences of a clean power shot meant 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 trickle from his mouth, and a dull ache radiated through his jawbone, Paul finally grasped how difficult, grueling, and perilous boxing is at a respectable standard of professionalism.

A Far From Commanding Win for the Victor

Anthony Joshua, it must be noted, was not impressive amid the chaos. After his empty victory, he performed a throat-slitting gesture that hinted at a precise and lethal execution when, in truth, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for the majority of the contest. Rather than exuding intimidation or displaying an iron certainty, Joshua had seemed tentative and awkward for nearly five stanzas.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a basic essential in top-level boxing, dictated the outcome. Without the gas to escape any longer, and reduced to slipping to the deck as often as he could for a rest, Paul was rendered helpless by exhaustion. Joshua applied the brutal ending, but, up to that point, he had seemed a sad imitation of the boxer he had been in 2017.

Joshua's Post-Fight Assessment

"It wasn't the best performance," Joshua admitted. "The objective was to get Jake Paul, pin him down and do damage. That has been the plan, and that's what was on my thoughts. It took a bit longer than expected, but the straight right eventually reached its target."

Joshua commended Paul's courage but he offered an excuse for his own labored showing. "He faced a real fighter tonight that's had a fifteen-month hiatus," Joshua said, mentioning his previous loss. "We shook off the cobwebs, and I am eager to roll into 2026."

The Future: Past Their Prime and Rising Stars

In the press conference that followed, a jovial Joshua tried out a poor impression of Tyson Fury as he called for a scrap against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will probably get his wish, but that bout comes far too late in their professional journeys. Both men are on the downward slope of the hill.

In contrast, the most interesting heavyweights in the world remain the Ukrainian master and the British prospect. Usyk is still the unquestioned king of the weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury twice. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rising talent. The young British heavyweight would probably have required fewer than half the number of rounds that Joshua needed to send Paul into a suitably astonished stupor.

The Defeated Fighter's Defiant Reaction

But the public receives what the public wants, and that certainly means additional pitiful crossover contests. Paul appeared genuinely proud and cocky 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 marked in red.

That lighthearted nod to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a far greater fighter than Joshua but a equally faded force, demonstrated that Paul's comic chutzpah is undented. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly locate someone else with whom he can earn north of $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before leaving for the hospital, Paul spat a streak of blood onto the canvas. It was one more grim symbol of the evening as Paul mixed harsh reality with gory bullshit 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 adore this sport and I'm going to come back and continue winning."