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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's mouth gaped wide open, his eyes becoming huge glazed saucers as he sank to the canvas in shock and awe following a pulverising right hand from Anthony Joshua. It looked as if Paul was attempting to utter "Wow!" as the severity of the impact sank in to his scrambled senses.

"The fans didn't pay to see this crap," said the referee, encapsulating the dismal spectacle much more succinctly than anyone else managed to.

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 serious reality of the sweet science enveloped him. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the punch that fractured his mandible in two separate places, Paul was lost in an utterly stunned moment.

So this is how it is like, and looks, to be hit hard by a genuine boxer, an Olympic champion and former world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is certainly the word.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been knocked down, but the result of a proper punch ensured Paul could not rise and waggle his tongue defiantly before the referee waved the charade to a halt. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a numbing throb spread through his jawbone, Paul at last understood how difficult, grueling, and dangerous boxing is at a respectable level of competition.

An Unimpressive Impressive Victory for Joshua

Anthony Joshua, it must be noted, was not impressive amid the chaos. After his empty victory, he performed a cut-throat motion that hinted at a clinical and deadly execution when, in reality, Joshua had appeared exasperated for most of the fight. Rather than exuding intimidation or exhibiting an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had seemed tentative and crude for almost five rounds.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a basic essential in elite boxing, shaped the result. Lacking the stamina to escape any more, and reduced to falling to the canvas as frequently as he could for a rest, Paul was rendered helpless by exhaustion. Joshua delivered the vicious ending, but, until then, he had looked like a sad imitation of the fighter he had been in 2017.

The Winner's Post-Fight Assessment

"That was not the best display," Joshua admitted. "The objective was to get Jake Paul, pin him down and do damage. That has been the plan, and that's what was on my mind. It took a little more time than expected, but the straight right eventually found its target."

Joshua praised Paul's bravery but he offered an explanation for his own stilted performance. "He came up against a real fighter tonight that's had a 15-month hiatus," Joshua said, mentioning his last loss. "We dusted off the cobwebs, and I am eager to head into 2026."

The Future: Past Their Prime and Rising Stars

In the press conference that followed, a jovial Joshua tried out a woeful impression of his domestic rival as he called for a fight against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will likely have his way, but that bout comes far too late in their professional journeys. Both men are on the downward slope of the peak.

In stark contrast, the most compelling heavyweights in the world remain Oleksandr Usyk and Moses Itauma. Usyk is still the undoubted ruler of the weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury twice. At the same time, Itauma is a rising force. 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 appropriately astonished stupor.

The Defeated Fighter's Unbowed Response

But the fans receives what the public wants, and that undoubtedly means more pitiful celebrity contests. Paul appeared truly proud and brash to have had his jaw broken by a sledgehammer right. In the wee hours of Saturday morning, he posted an radiograph, with the two fractures highlighted in crimson.

That lighthearted nod to the Mexican superstar, a much superior boxer than Joshua but a equally faded presence, showed that Paul's comic chutzpah remains unbroken. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will soon locate someone else with whom he can make north of $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before departing to the medical facility, Paul expelled a streak of blood onto the canvas. It was another bleak symbol of the night as Paul mangled harsh reality with gory bravado and said: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A proper ass-whipping from one of the best to ever do it. I love this sport and I'm going to return and continue winning."