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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's mouth gaped agape, his expression turning to huge glazed saucers as he collapsed to the mat in stunned disbelief after a pulverising right hand from Anthony Joshua. It appeared as if Paul was attempting to utter "Whoa!" as the severity of the impact sank in to his scrambled senses.

"Those watching didn't pay to see this garbage," snapped the referee, summing up the sorry spectacle far more effectively than any observer else managed to.

Trapped in a neutral corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could not 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 separate places, Paul was lost in an utterly dazed moment.

So that is what it is like, and looks, to be struck cleanly by a real professional fighter, an Olympic champion and former world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is certainly the word.

It was the fourth time the social media star had been knocked down, but the consequences of a clean power shot meant Paul could not get up and waggle his tongue defiantly before the official called the charade over. As blood began to leak from his lips, and a dull ache spread through his jawbone, Paul at last grasped how difficult, grueling, and perilous boxing is at a decent standard of professionalism.

A Far From Impressive Victory for Joshua

Joshua, it should be stressed, was far from convincing amid the bedlam. After his hollow victory, he made a cut-throat motion that suggested a precise and deadly finish when, in reality, Joshua had appeared exasperated for most of the contest. Instead of glowering with menace or displaying an iron certainty, Joshua had seemed tentative and awkward for nearly five stanzas.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a basic essential in top-level boxing, shaped the result. Lacking the stamina to flee any more, and resorting to slipping to the canvas as often as he could for a rest, Paul was rendered defenseless by fatigue. Joshua delivered the brutal ending, but, up to that point, he had looked like a mournful imitation of the fighter he had been in 2017.

The Winner's Aftermath Assessment

"That was not the best performance," Joshua admitted. "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 mind. It took a bit longer than expected, but the right hand eventually found its destination."

Joshua commended Paul's courage but he added an explanation for his own stilted performance. "He faced a genuine competitor tonight that's had a 15-month hiatus," Joshua said, mentioning his previous defeat. "We shook off the rust, and I can't wait to head into 2026."

The Future: Past Their Prime and Rising Stars

In the press conference afterwards, a cheerful Joshua attempted a woeful impression of Tyson Fury as he demanded a fight 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 compelling big men in the world are Oleksandr Usyk and Moses Itauma. Usyk is still the unquestioned ruler of the weight class, after defeating both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rapidly ascending force. The youthful British heavyweight would probably have needed fewer than half the amount of three-minute periods that Joshua needed to knock Paul into a appropriately wowed state.

Paul's Defiant Reaction

But the fans receives what the public desires, and that undoubtedly means more pitiful crossover contests. Paul seemed truly proud and brash to have had his mandible fractured by a sledgehammer right. In the wee hours of Saturday morning, he shared an radiograph, with the two fractures highlighted in red.

That lighthearted reference to the Mexican superstar, a much superior boxer than Joshua but a similarly faded force, demonstrated that Paul's brazen audacity remains unbroken. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will soon find 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 tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was one more bleak symbol of the night as Paul mixed blunt truth with blood-flecked bravado and stated: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A proper beating from one of the greatest to ever do it. I love this shit and I'm going to come back and continue winning."