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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's mouth gaped wide open, his expression turning to wide, stunned circles as he sank to the canvas in shock and awe following a devastating right hand from Anthony Joshua. It looked as if Paul was attempting to say "Wow!" as the force of the blow sank in to his scrambled senses.

"Those watching didn't spend money to see this garbage," snapped the referee, encapsulating the sorry spectacle far more succinctly than anyone else could.

Trapped in a corner of the ring in the middle of 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 became clear. Instead, as he tried to absorb the shot that broke his jaw in two distinct locations, Paul was lost in an utterly dazed moment.

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

It was the fourth time the social media star had been knocked down, but the consequences of a proper power shot ensured Paul would not be able to get up and taunt his opponent before the official waved the charade over. As blood began to leak from his lips, and a numbing throb radiated through his jaw, Paul at last understood how difficult, exhausting, and dangerous boxing is at a decent standard of competition.

A Far From Commanding Win for the Victor

Anthony Joshua, it must be noted, was not impressive during the chaos. After his empty victory, he made a cut-throat motion that suggested a clinical and deadly execution when, in truth, Joshua had appeared exasperated for most of the fight. Instead of glowering with menace or displaying an iron certainty, Joshua had seemed tentative and crude for nearly five stanzas.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a basic essential in top-level boxing, dictated the outcome. Without the gas to flee any longer, and resorting to falling to the deck as often as he could for a breather, Paul was left helpless by exhaustion. Joshua applied the brutal ending, but, up to that point, he had looked like a sad shadow of the boxer he had been in 2017.

Joshua's Aftermath Comments

"It wasn't the finest display," Joshua admitted. "The objective was to catch Jake Paul, corner him and hurt him. That has been the request, and that's what was on my mind. It took a bit longer than expected, but the straight right finally reached its target."

Joshua commended Paul's courage but he added an excuse for his own labored performance. "He faced a genuine competitor tonight that's had a 15-month hiatus," Joshua said, referencing his last defeat. "We dusted off the cobwebs, and I am eager to roll into 2026."

What Comes Next: Faded Forces and Rising Stars

In the post-fight interview that followed, a jovial Joshua attempted a poor imitation of his domestic rival as he called for a scrap against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will probably have his way, but that matchup comes much too late in their careers. Both fighters are on the far side of the peak.

In contrast, the most interesting heavyweights in the world are Oleksandr Usyk and Moses Itauma. Usyk remains the undoubted ruler of the weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. At the same time, Itauma is a rapidly ascending force. The youthful British heavyweight would probably have required less than half the number of rounds that Joshua needed to send Paul into a suitably astonished state.

Paul's Unbowed Reaction

But the public gets what the public wants, and that certainly means additional pitiful crossover fights. Paul seemed truly proud and cocky to have had his mandible fractured by a sledgehammer right. In the early hours of the next day, he posted an radiograph, with the pair of breaks marked in red.

That lighthearted nod to the Mexican superstar, a much superior boxer than Joshua but a equally diminished force, showed that Paul's comic chutzpah is unbroken. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly locate someone else with whom he can earn more than $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before leaving for the hospital, Paul expelled a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was one more bleak symbol of the night as Paul mangled harsh reality with gory bravado and said: "I think my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A proper ass-whipping from one of the greatest to ever step in the ring. I adore this shit and I'm going to return and continue winning."