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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's mouth gaped wide open, his expression turning to huge glazed saucers as he collapsed to the canvas in shock and awe following a pulverising right hand from Anthony Joshua. It appeared as if Paul was trying to utter "Wow!" as the force of the blow registered to his rattled senses.

"The fans didn't pay to see this rubbish," said the referee, encapsulating the sorry spectacle much more succinctly than anyone else could.

Pinned in a corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could not run or hold on to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the serious reality of boxing enveloped him. Instead, as he tried to absorb the punch that broke his jaw in two distinct locations, Paul was lost in an utterly dazed moment.

So that is what it feels, and appears, to be hit hard by a genuine professional fighter, an Olympic gold medallist and former world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is certainly the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the social media star had been sent to the floor, but the result of a proper punch ensured Paul could not get up and waggle his tongue defiantly before the official waved the contest over. As blood began to trickle from his lips, and a numbing throb radiated through his jawbone, Paul finally understood how hard, exhausting, and dangerous boxing is at a decent level of professionalism.

An Unimpressive Impressive Win for Joshua

Anthony Joshua, it must be noted, was far from convincing during the bedlam. After his hollow victory, he made a cut-throat motion that suggested a precise and lethal execution when, in truth, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for the majority of the fight. Instead of exuding intimidation or exhibiting an iron certainty, Joshua had appeared tentative and crude for almost five rounds.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a basic essential in elite boxing, dictated the result. Without the gas to flee any more, and resorting to falling to the canvas as frequently as he could for a rest, Paul was left helpless by fatigue. Joshua delivered the brutal ending, but, up to that point, he had seemed a mournful shadow of the boxer he was in 2017.

Joshua's Aftermath Assessment

"That was not the finest performance," Joshua conceded. "The objective was to catch Jake Paul, pin him down 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 praised Paul's courage but he offered an explanation for his own stilted showing. "He faced a real fighter tonight that's had a 15-month layoff," Joshua said, mentioning his last loss. "We shook off the rust, and I can't wait to roll into 2026."

What Comes Next: Faded Forces and New Talent

In the press conference that followed, a jovial Joshua tried out a poor imitation of his domestic rival as he demanded a scrap against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will likely get his wish, but that bout comes far too late in their professional journeys. Both fighters are on the far side of the peak.

In contrast, the most compelling heavyweights in the world are the Ukrainian master and the British prospect. Usyk remains the undoubted ruler of the division, after defeating both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. At the same time, Itauma is a rising talent. The youthful British heavyweight would probably have needed fewer than half the amount of three-minute periods that Joshua needed to knock Paul into a appropriately astonished state.

The Defeated Fighter's Unbowed Reaction

But the fans receives what the public desires, and that undoubtedly means additional low-quality crossover contests. Paul appeared genuinely satisfied and brash to have had his jaw broken by a sledgehammer right. In the early hours of Saturday morning, he posted an X-ray, with the pair of breaks marked in crimson.

That lighthearted reference to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a much superior boxer than Joshua but a similarly faded presence, demonstrated that Paul's comic chutzpah is unbroken. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly locate another opponent with whom he can make more than $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before leaving for the medical facility, Paul expelled a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was one more bleak summary of the night as Paul mixed blunt truth with gory bravado and stated: "I think my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A proper beating from one of the best to ever do it. I love this sport and I'm going to come back and keep on winning."