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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's mouth gaped wide open, his expression turning to huge glazed saucers as he sank to the mat in shock and awe after a devastating right hand from Anthony Joshua. It appeared as if Paul was trying to say "Wow!" as the force of the blow sank in to his rattled senses.

"Those watching didn't pay to see this crap," said the referee, encapsulating the dismal spectacle far more succinctly than anyone else managed to.

Trapped in a neutral corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could not retreat or hold on to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the serious reality of the sweet science became clear. Instead, as he tried to absorb the shot that fractured his mandible in two separate places, Paul was lost in an completely dazed moment.

So that is what it is like, and looks, to be hit hard by a real boxer, an Olympic gold medallist and former world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is indeed the word.

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 waggle his tongue defiantly 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 at last grasped how difficult, grueling, and perilous boxing is at a respectable standard of competition.

An Unimpressive Impressive Win for Joshua

Anthony Joshua, it must be noted, was not impressive amid the bedlam. After his empty victory, he performed a cut-throat motion that hinted at a precise and deadly finish when, in reality, Joshua had appeared exasperated for most of the fight. Instead of glowering with menace or displaying an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had seemed tentative and awkward for almost five rounds.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a basic essential in elite boxing, dictated the result. Without the gas to flee any longer, and resorting to slipping to the deck as often as he could for a breather, Paul was left helpless by exhaustion. Joshua delivered the vicious finish, but, up to that point, he had seemed a mournful shadow of the fighter he was in 2017.

Joshua's Post-Fight Comments

"It wasn't the finest performance," 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 bit longer than expected, but the straight right eventually found its target."

Joshua commended Paul's bravery but he offered an excuse for his own labored performance. "He faced a genuine competitor tonight that's had a fifteen-month layoff," Joshua said, mentioning his last loss. "We shook off the rust, and I am eager to roll into 2026."

What Comes Next: Faded Forces and New Talent

In the press conference afterwards, a cheerful Joshua attempted a poor imitation of Tyson Fury as he demanded a fight against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will likely get his wish, but that bout comes far too late in their professional journeys. Both men are on the downward slope of the peak.

In contrast, the most compelling big men in the world remain Oleksandr Usyk and Moses Itauma. Usyk remains the undoubted ruler of the division, after defeating both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. At the same time, Itauma is a rapidly ascending talent. The young British heavyweight would probably have required less than half the amount of rounds that Joshua needed to send Paul into a suitably astonished stupor.

The Defeated Fighter's Unbowed Response

But the fans receives what the public wants, and that undoubtedly means more low-quality crossover fights. Paul seemed genuinely satisfied and cocky to have had his mandible fractured by a hammer-like right. In the early hours of the next day, he shared an radiograph, with the pair of breaks marked in crimson.

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

During his in-ring interview, before departing to the hospital, Paul spat a tracer of blood onto the canvas. It was another bleak symbol of the evening as Paul mixed blunt truth with gory bullshit and said: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A proper beating from one of the best to ever do it. I adore this shit and I'm going to return and keep on winning."