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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 mat in stunned disbelief after a pulverising right hand from Anthony Joshua. It looked as if Paul was attempting to utter "Whoa!" as the force of the blow registered to his scrambled senses.

"The fans didn't spend money to see this rubbish," snapped the referee, summing up the dismal spectacle much more effectively than any observer else could.

Trapped in a corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could not retreat or cling to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the gravity of the sweet science became clear. 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 is like, and looks, to be struck cleanly by a genuine boxer, an Olympic gold medallist and former world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is certainly the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been sent to the floor, but the result of a clean punch ensured Paul could not get up and taunt his opponent before the official called the charade over. As blood began to trickle from his lips, and a dull ache spread through his jaw, Paul finally grasped how hard, grueling, and dangerous boxing is at a decent level of professionalism.

A Far From Impressive Win for Joshua

Joshua, it must be noted, was not impressive during the bedlam. After his empty victory, he made a cut-throat motion that suggested a precise and deadly finish when, in reality, Joshua had appeared exasperated for most of the fight. Rather than glowering with menace or exhibiting an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had seemed hesitant and crude for almost five rounds.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a basic essential in top-level boxing, dictated the outcome. Without the gas to escape any more, and resorting to falling to the deck as often as he could for a rest, Paul was left defenseless by fatigue. Joshua applied the vicious ending, but, until then, he had seemed a sad shadow of the boxer he had been in 2017.

The Winner's Aftermath Assessment

"That was not the finest display," Joshua conceded. "The end goal was to get Jake Paul, pin him down 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 found its target."

Joshua praised Paul's courage but he offered an explanation for his own stilted showing. "He came up against a real fighter tonight that's had a 15-month layoff," Joshua said, referencing his last 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 that followed, a cheerful Joshua tried out a poor impression of Tyson Fury as he demanded a scrap against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will probably have his way, but that matchup comes far too late in their professional journeys. Both men are on the downward slope of the peak.

In stark contrast, the most interesting heavyweights in the world are the Ukrainian master and the British prospect. Usyk remains the undoubted king of the weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury twice. At the same time, Itauma is a rapidly ascending talent. The youthful British heavyweight likely have needed fewer than half the number of three-minute periods that Joshua needed to knock Paul into a appropriately wowed state.

The Defeated Fighter's Defiant Response

But the public receives what the public desires, and that undoubtedly means more pitiful celebrity contests. Paul seemed truly proud and brash to have had his jaw broken by a hammer-like right. In the wee hours of the next day, he shared an X-ray, with the two fractures marked in red.

That jokey nod to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a far greater boxer than Joshua but a similarly diminished force, demonstrated that Paul's brazen audacity remains unbroken. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly locate 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 one more grim symbol of the night as Paul mixed blunt truth with gory bravado and said: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A proper beating from one of the best to ever do it. I love this shit and I'm going to come back and continue winning."