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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's mouth gaped wide open, his eyes becoming wide, stunned circles as he collapsed to the canvas in stunned disbelief after a devastating right hand from the former champion. It looked as if Paul was trying to say "Whoa!" as the severity of the impact sank in to his rattled senses.

"Those watching didn't spend money to see this crap," said the referee, summing up the sorry affair far more succinctly than anyone else managed to.

Pinned in a corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could not retreat or hold on to Joshua's legs like a forlorn little boy as the gravity of the sweet science became clear. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the shot that broke his jaw in two separate places, Paul was lost in an completely stunned moment.

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

It was the fourth time the social media star had been knocked down, but the consequences of a clean punch ensured Paul would not be able to rise and waggle his tongue defiantly before the referee called the contest over. As blood began to trickle from his lips, and a dull ache radiated through his jawbone, Paul at last grasped how difficult, grueling, and dangerous boxing is at a respectable standard of competition.

A Far From Commanding Victory for the Victor

Anthony Joshua, it should be stressed, was not impressive during the bedlam. After his hollow victory, he performed a throat-slitting gesture that suggested a precise and lethal finish when, in truth, Joshua had appeared exasperated for the majority of the contest. Instead of glowering with menace or displaying an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had seemed tentative and awkward for nearly five rounds.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a basic essential in elite boxing, dictated the result. Lacking the stamina to escape any more, and reduced to slipping to the canvas as often as he could for a rest, Paul was rendered defenseless by exhaustion. Joshua applied the brutal ending, but, until then, he had looked like a mournful shadow of the fighter he was in 2017.

The Winner's Post-Fight Comments

"It wasn't the best display," Joshua admitted. "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 anticipated, but the straight right finally reached its target."

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

The Future: Past Their Prime and New Talent

In the press conference afterwards, a cheerful Joshua tried out a poor imitation of Tyson Fury as he called for a fight against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will probably get his wish, but that bout comes much too late in their professional journeys. Both men are on the far side of the hill.

In stark contrast, the most compelling big men in the world remain Oleksandr Usyk and Moses Itauma. Usyk remains the undoubted ruler of the division, having beaten both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rapidly ascending force. The young British heavyweight likely have needed fewer than half the number of rounds that Joshua needed to send Paul into a appropriately wowed stupor.

Paul's Defiant Reaction

But the fans receives what the public desires, and that certainly means additional pitiful celebrity fights. Paul appeared truly satisfied and cocky to have had his jaw broken by a hammer-like right. In the wee hours of the next day, he shared an radiograph, with the pair of breaks marked in red.

That jokey nod to the Mexican superstar, a far greater boxer than Joshua but a similarly faded presence, showed that Paul's comic chutzpah is unbroken. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will soon find another opponent with whom he can earn north of $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before leaving for the medical facility, Paul expelled a tracer of blood onto the canvas. It was one more grim summary of the evening as Paul mixed harsh reality with blood-flecked bravado and stated: "I think my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A proper beating from one of the best to ever step in the ring. I love this shit and I'm going to come back and continue winning."