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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's mouth gaped agape, his eyes becoming wide, stunned circles as he sank to the mat in shock and awe following a pulverising right hand from the former champion. It appeared as if Paul was trying to utter "Wow!" as the severity of the impact registered to his scrambled senses.

"The fans didn't spend money to see this crap," snapped the referee, encapsulating the dismal spectacle much more effectively than anyone else managed to.

Pinned in a corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could no longer retreat or hold on to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the gravity of boxing enveloped him. Instead, as he tried to absorb the punch that fractured his mandible in two distinct locations, Paul was lost in an utterly dazed moment.

So this is how it feels, and looks, to be hit hard by a genuine boxer, an Olympic gold medallist and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is indeed the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the social media star had been sent to the floor, but the result of a clean punch ensured Paul would not be able to rise and taunt his opponent before the official waved the charade to a halt. As blood began to leak from his lips, and a dull ache radiated through his jawbone, Paul finally understood how difficult, exhausting, and dangerous boxing is at a respectable level of competition.

An Unimpressive Commanding Win for Joshua

Anthony Joshua, it should be stressed, was far from convincing amid the chaos. After his hollow victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that hinted at a precise and deadly finish when, in reality, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for the majority of the fight. Instead of glowering with menace or displaying an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had appeared hesitant and awkward for nearly five stanzas.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a fundamental requirement in top-level boxing, dictated the result. Without the gas to escape any longer, and reduced to falling to the deck as often as he could for a breather, Paul was left defenseless by fatigue. Joshua delivered the vicious finish, but, up to that point, he had seemed a mournful shadow of the fighter he had been in 2017.

Joshua's Aftermath Comments

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

Joshua praised Paul's bravery but he added an excuse for his own stilted performance. "He faced a real fighter tonight that's had a 15-month hiatus," Joshua said, mentioning his previous defeat. "We dusted off the rust, and I can't wait to head into 2026."

What Comes Next: Faded Forces and New Talent

In the press conference afterwards, a jovial Joshua attempted a woeful impression of Tyson Fury as he called for a scrap against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will probably get his wish, but that matchup comes far too late in their professional journeys. Both fighters are on the downward slope of the hill.

In contrast, the most interesting big men in the world remain the Ukrainian master and the British prospect. Usyk remains the undoubted king of the weight class, after defeating both Joshua and Fury twice. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rising force. The young British heavyweight likely have required fewer than half the amount of rounds that Joshua needed to knock Paul into a appropriately astonished stupor.

Paul's Defiant Reaction

But the fans gets what the public desires, and that certainly means additional low-quality celebrity contests. Paul seemed truly proud and cocky to have had his mandible fractured by a hammer-like right. In the wee hours of the next day, he posted an radiograph, with the two fractures marked in crimson.

That lighthearted nod to the Mexican superstar, a far greater boxer than Joshua but a similarly faded force, showed that Paul's brazen audacity is unbroken. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will soon locate another opponent with whom he can make north of $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before leaving for the medical facility, Paul spat a streak of blood onto the canvas. It was another bleak summary of the night as Paul mangled harsh reality with gory bravado and said: "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 return and keep on winning."