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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's jaw dropped wide open, his eyes becoming wide, stunned circles as he sank to the canvas in stunned disbelief after a devastating right hand from Anthony Joshua. It appeared as if Paul was trying to say "Wow!" as the severity of the blow sank in to his rattled senses.

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

Pinned in a corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could no longer run or cling to Joshua's legs like a forlorn little boy as the gravity of the sweet science enveloped him. Instead, as he tried to absorb the punch that broke his jaw in two separate places, Paul was lost in an completely dazed moment.

So that is what it is like, and appears, to be hit hard by a real professional fighter, an Olympic champion and former world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is indeed the word.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been sent to the floor, but the consequences of a proper punch meant Paul would not be able to get up and taunt his opponent before the referee called the contest over. As blood began to leak from his lips, and a dull ache spread through his jaw, Paul finally grasped how difficult, grueling, and dangerous boxing is at a decent standard of competition.

A Far From Impressive Win for Joshua

Anthony Joshua, it should be stressed, was far from convincing amid the bedlam. After his hollow victory, he made a cut-throat motion that hinted at a precise and deadly finish when, in truth, Joshua had appeared exasperated for most of the fight. Instead of exuding intimidation or displaying an iron certainty, Joshua had seemed tentative and awkward for nearly five rounds.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a fundamental requirement in top-level boxing, shaped the result. Lacking the stamina to flee any more, and resorting to slipping to the deck as often as he could for a breather, Paul was left defenseless by exhaustion. Joshua applied the vicious ending, but, up to that point, he had seemed a sad shadow of the fighter he had been in 2017.

Joshua's Post-Fight Comments

"That was not the finest display," Joshua admitted. "The end goal was to get Jake Paul, pin him down and hurt him. That has been the plan, 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 added an excuse for his own labored performance. "He faced a real fighter tonight that's had a 15-month layoff," Joshua said, mentioning his last defeat. "We shook off the cobwebs, and I am eager to head into 2026."

What Comes Next: Faded Forces and Rising Stars

In the post-fight interview afterwards, a cheerful Joshua attempted a woeful impression of his domestic rival as he demanded a scrap against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will likely have his way, but that bout comes much too late in their careers. Both fighters are on the downward slope of the hill.

In stark contrast, the most interesting heavyweights in the world remain Oleksandr Usyk and Moses Itauma. Usyk is still the undoubted king of the weight class, after defeating both Joshua and Fury twice. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rising force. The youthful British heavyweight likely have needed fewer than half the amount of rounds that Joshua needed to send Paul into a appropriately wowed stupor.

The Defeated Fighter's Defiant Response

But the fans receives what the public wants, and that certainly means more low-quality crossover contests. Paul seemed genuinely proud and brash to have had his jaw broken by a sledgehammer right. In the early hours of Saturday morning, he shared an radiograph, with the pair of breaks marked in red.

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

During his in-ring interview, before leaving for the hospital, Paul expelled a tracer of blood onto the canvas. It was one more bleak symbol of the evening as Paul mangled harsh reality with gory bullshit and stated: "I think my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A nice little ass-whipping from one of the best to ever step in the ring. I adore this sport and I'm going to come back and keep on winning."