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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's jaw dropped agape, his eyes becoming wide, stunned circles as he collapsed to the canvas in shock and awe after a pulverising right hand from Anthony Joshua. It looked as if Paul was attempting to say "Whoa!" as the severity of the impact registered to his scrambled senses.

"The audience didn't pay to see this crap," said the referee, summing up the dismal affair far more succinctly than anyone else could.

Pinned in a corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could no longer run or hold on to Joshua's legs like a forlorn little boy as the serious reality of boxing became clear. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the shot that fractured his mandible in two distinct locations, Paul was caught in an utterly stunned moment.

So this is how it feels, and appears, to be hit hard by a real boxer, an Olympic champion and former world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is indeed the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been sent to the floor, but the result of a proper punch ensured Paul would not be able to get up and waggle his tongue defiantly before the official waved the charade over. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a dull ache spread through his jawbone, Paul finally grasped how hard, grueling, and perilous boxing is at a respectable standard of competition.

An Unimpressive Impressive Win for Joshua

Anthony Joshua, it must be noted, was far from convincing during the chaos. After his empty victory, he made a cut-throat motion that suggested a clinical and lethal finish when, in truth, Joshua had appeared exasperated for most of the contest. Rather than exuding intimidation or displaying an iron certainty, Joshua had appeared hesitant and crude for nearly five stanzas.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a fundamental requirement in top-level boxing, shaped the outcome. Without the gas to flee any longer, and reduced to slipping to the canvas as frequently as he could for a breather, Paul was rendered helpless by fatigue. Joshua delivered the brutal finish, but, up to that point, he had looked like a sad imitation of the fighter he was in 2017.

The Winner's Post-Fight Assessment

"It wasn't the best display," Joshua conceded. "The objective was to catch Jake Paul, pin him down and hurt him. That has been the request, and that's what was on my mind. It took a bit longer than expected, but the right hand eventually found its target."

Joshua praised Paul's courage but he offered an excuse for his own stilted performance. "He came up against a real fighter tonight that's had a fifteen-month hiatus," Joshua said, mentioning his last defeat. "We shook off the cobwebs, and I am eager to head into 2026."

The Future: Faded Forces and Rising Stars

In the post-fight interview afterwards, a jovial Joshua attempted a woeful impression of his domestic rival as he demanded a scrap against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will probably have his way, but that bout comes far too late in their professional journeys. Both fighters are on the far side of the hill.

In stark contrast, the most interesting heavyweights in the world are the Ukrainian master and the British prospect. Usyk remains the unquestioned ruler of the division, after defeating both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rapidly ascending talent. The youthful British heavyweight would probably have required fewer than half the amount of three-minute periods that Joshua needed to knock Paul into a suitably wowed stupor.

Paul's Defiant Response

But the fans gets what the public wants, and that certainly means additional pitiful crossover contests. Paul seemed genuinely proud and cocky to have had his mandible fractured by a sledgehammer right. In the early hours of the next day, he posted an radiograph, with the pair of breaks highlighted in red.

That lighthearted nod to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a much superior fighter than Joshua but a similarly faded force, showed that Paul's comic chutzpah remains unbroken. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will soon find someone else with whom he can earn north of $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before departing to the medical facility, Paul expelled a tracer of blood onto the canvas. It was another bleak summary of the evening as Paul mixed blunt truth with gory bravado and said: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A nice little beating from one of the greatest to ever step in the ring. I adore this sport and I'm going to come back and continue winning."