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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's jaw dropped wide open, his expression turning to wide, stunned circles as he sank to the mat in stunned disbelief after a pulverising right hand from Anthony Joshua. It looked as if Paul was attempting to say "Whoa!" as the severity of the impact sank in to his scrambled senses.

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

Pinned in a neutral corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could not run or cling to Joshua's legs like a forlorn little boy as the gravity 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 completely dazed moment.

So that is what it feels, and appears, to be hit hard by a real boxer, an Olympic champion and former world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is indeed the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the social media star had been knocked down, but the consequences of a clean power shot ensured Paul could not get up and taunt his opponent before the referee waved the charade to a halt. As blood began to trickle from his lips, and a dull ache radiated through his jaw, Paul at last understood how difficult, grueling, and perilous boxing is at a decent level of professionalism.

An Unimpressive Commanding Win for Joshua

Anthony Joshua, it should be stressed, was far from convincing amid the chaos. After his empty victory, he performed a cut-throat motion that suggested a clinical and deadly finish when, in reality, Joshua had appeared exasperated for the majority of the fight. Rather than exuding intimidation or displaying an iron certainty, Joshua had seemed tentative and awkward for almost five stanzas.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a fundamental requirement in top-level boxing, shaped the result. Without the gas to escape any longer, and reduced to slipping to the canvas as often as he could for a breather, Paul was left helpless by fatigue. Joshua applied the brutal finish, but, up to that point, he had seemed a sad imitation of the boxer he was in 2017.

Joshua's Post-Fight Comments

"That was not the finest display," Joshua admitted. "The end goal was to catch Jake Paul, corner him and hurt him. That has been the request, and that's what was on my thoughts. It took a little more time than expected, but the straight right finally reached its destination."

Joshua commended Paul's bravery but he added an excuse for his own labored showing. "He came up against a genuine competitor tonight that's had a 15-month layoff," Joshua said, referencing his previous loss. "We shook off the rust, and I am eager to head into 2026."

What Comes Next: Faded Forces and Rising Stars

In the press conference that followed, a jovial Joshua tried out a poor impression of his domestic rival as he demanded a fight against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will likely get his wish, but that bout comes much too late in their careers. Both fighters are on the far side of the hill.

In contrast, the most compelling big men in the world remain Oleksandr Usyk and the British prospect. Usyk remains the unquestioned ruler of the division, having beaten both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. At the same time, Itauma is a rapidly ascending talent. The youthful British heavyweight likely have required less than half the amount of three-minute periods that Joshua needed to send Paul into a suitably wowed state.

Paul's Unbowed Reaction

But the fans gets what the public wants, and that undoubtedly means more low-quality celebrity contests. Paul seemed genuinely proud and cocky to have had his mandible fractured by a sledgehammer right. In the wee hours of the next day, he posted an X-ray, with the two fractures highlighted in red.

That lighthearted nod to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a far greater fighter than Joshua but a similarly diminished presence, demonstrated that Paul's comic chutzpah is unbroken. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will soon find someone else with whom he can make 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 another bleak summary of the night as Paul mangled blunt truth with gory bullshit and said: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A nice little beating from one of the greatest to ever step in the ring. I love this sport and I'm going to return and keep on winning."