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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's jaw dropped wide open, his eyes becoming huge glazed saucers as he sank to the canvas in stunned disbelief after a pulverising right hand from Anthony Joshua. It looked as if Paul was attempting to say "Whoa!" as the severity of the blow registered to his rattled senses.

"The fans didn't spend money to see this rubbish," said the referee, summing up the dismal affair far more effectively than anyone else managed to.

Trapped in a corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could no longer retreat or cling to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the gravity of boxing enveloped him. Instead, as he tried to absorb the punch that broke his jaw in two distinct locations, Paul was caught in an completely stunned moment.

So that is what it feels, and appears, to be struck cleanly by a genuine professional fighter, an Olympic champion and former world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is certainly the word.

It was the fourth time the social media star had been sent to the floor, but the consequences of a proper power shot ensured Paul could not rise and waggle his tongue defiantly before the referee waved the contest over. As blood began to leak from his lips, and a dull ache spread through his jawbone, Paul at last understood how hard, exhausting, and perilous boxing is at a respectable standard of competition.

A Far From Impressive Win for Joshua

Anthony Joshua, it should be stressed, was not impressive during the bedlam. After his empty victory, he performed a cut-throat motion that hinted at a precise and lethal execution when, in reality, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for the majority of the contest. Rather than glowering with menace or displaying an iron certainty, Joshua had appeared tentative and awkward for almost five stanzas.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a basic essential in elite boxing, shaped the outcome. Without the gas to escape any longer, and resorting to slipping to the canvas as often as he could for a rest, Paul was rendered helpless by fatigue. Joshua delivered the brutal finish, but, until then, he had seemed a mournful shadow of the fighter he was in 2017.

The Winner's Aftermath Comments

"That was not the finest performance," Joshua conceded. "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 thoughts. It took a little more time than expected, but the straight right finally found its destination."

Joshua praised Paul's courage but he added an excuse for his own stilted performance. "He faced a genuine competitor tonight that's had a fifteen-month layoff," Joshua said, mentioning his previous defeat. "We shook off the cobwebs, and I am eager to roll into 2026."

The Future: Faded Forces and New Talent

In the press conference afterwards, a jovial Joshua attempted a poor impression of Tyson Fury as he called for a scrap against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will likely get his wish, but that matchup comes far too late in their careers. Both men are on the downward slope of the hill.

In contrast, the most compelling big men in the world remain Oleksandr Usyk and the British prospect. Usyk is still the undoubted ruler of the division, after defeating both Joshua and Fury twice. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rapidly ascending force. The young British heavyweight likely have needed less than half the number of rounds that Joshua needed to send Paul into a appropriately astonished stupor.

The Defeated Fighter's Defiant Response

But the public receives what the public wants, and that undoubtedly means more pitiful celebrity contests. Paul appeared genuinely satisfied and cocky to have had his mandible fractured by a sledgehammer right. In the wee hours of the next day, he shared an X-ray, with the pair of breaks marked in red.

That jokey reference to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a much superior boxer than Joshua but a similarly diminished presence, showed that Paul's comic chutzpah remains undented. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will soon find another opponent with whom he can earn more than $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before departing to the hospital, Paul expelled a streak of blood onto the ring floor. It was another grim summary of the night as Paul mixed harsh reality with gory bravado and said: "I think my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A proper ass-whipping from one of the best to ever step in the ring. I adore this sport and I'm going to return and continue winning."