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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's mouth gaped agape, his expression turning to huge glazed saucers as he collapsed to the mat in shock and awe after a pulverising right hand from Anthony Joshua. It looked as if Paul was attempting to utter "Wow!" as the severity of the blow registered to his scrambled senses.

"The fans didn't spend money to see this crap," snapped the referee, summing up the dismal affair much more effectively than anyone else could.

Pinned in a neutral corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could not retreat or hold on to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the serious reality of the sweet science enveloped him. Instead, as he tried to absorb the shot that fractured his mandible in two distinct locations, Paul was lost in an utterly stunned moment.

So that is what it feels, and appears, to be hit hard by a genuine boxer, an Olympic champion and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is certainly the word.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been sent to the floor, but the consequences of a clean punch meant Paul could not rise and waggle his tongue defiantly before the official waved the contest to a halt. As blood began to trickle from his lips, and a numbing throb radiated through his jawbone, Paul finally understood how difficult, exhausting, and perilous boxing is at a decent standard of competition.

A Far From Commanding Victory for Joshua

Joshua, it must be noted, was far from convincing amid the chaos. After his empty victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that suggested a clinical and lethal execution when, in truth, Joshua had appeared exasperated for the majority of the fight. Instead of exuding intimidation or displaying an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had seemed tentative and awkward for nearly five stanzas.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a basic essential in top-level boxing, shaped the result. Without the gas to flee any longer, and reduced to falling to the canvas as often as he could for a breather, Paul was left helpless by fatigue. Joshua applied the brutal finish, but, until then, he had looked like a sad imitation of the boxer he was in 2017.

Joshua's Post-Fight Assessment

"That was not the finest display," Joshua conceded. "The end goal was to get Jake Paul, pin him down and hurt him. That has been the request, and that's what was on my mind. It took a little more time than expected, but the straight right finally reached its target."

Joshua commended Paul's bravery but he added an explanation for his own stilted showing. "He came up against a real fighter tonight that's had a fifteen-month layoff," Joshua said, mentioning his last defeat. "We dusted off the rust, and I can't wait to head into 2026."

The Future: Past Their Prime and Rising Stars

In the post-fight interview afterwards, a cheerful Joshua tried out a woeful imitation of his domestic rival as he demanded a fight against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will probably have his way, but that bout comes far too late in their professional journeys. Both men are on the far side of the hill.

In stark contrast, the most interesting big men in the world remain the Ukrainian master and Moses Itauma. Usyk is still the unquestioned king of the weight class, after defeating both Joshua and Fury twice. At the same time, Itauma is a rising talent. The youthful British heavyweight likely have required less than half the amount of rounds that Joshua needed to knock Paul into a appropriately astonished stupor.

The Defeated Fighter's Defiant Reaction

But the fans receives what the public wants, and that certainly means additional low-quality crossover contests. Paul appeared truly satisfied and cocky to have had his jaw broken by a sledgehammer right. In the wee hours of Saturday morning, he shared an X-ray, with the pair of breaks highlighted in red.

That lighthearted reference to the Mexican superstar, a much superior boxer than Joshua but a similarly diminished force, demonstrated that Paul's comic chutzpah is undented. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly find someone else with whom he can make more than $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before leaving for the medical facility, Paul spat a streak of blood onto the ring floor. It was one more bleak summary of the night as Paul mangled harsh reality with gory bravado and stated: "I think my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A nice little ass-whipping from one of the best to ever do it. I adore this sport and I'm going to return and continue winning."