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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's mouth gaped wide open, his expression turning to huge glazed saucers as he collapsed to the canvas in shock and awe after a pulverising right hand from the former champion. It looked as if Paul was attempting to utter "Wow!" as the force of the impact registered to his scrambled senses.

"The audience didn't spend money to see this rubbish," snapped the referee, encapsulating the sorry affair far more effectively than any observer else could.

Pinned in a corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could not retreat or hold on to Joshua's legs like a forlorn little boy as the gravity of boxing enveloped him. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the punch that fractured his mandible in two separate places, Paul was caught in an completely stunned moment.

So that is what it feels, and looks, to be struck cleanly by a genuine professional fighter, an Olympic gold medallist and former world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is certainly the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been sent to the floor, but the result of a clean punch meant Paul would not be able to rise and waggle his tongue defiantly before the referee waved the contest to a halt. As blood began to trickle from his lips, and a numbing throb spread through his jawbone, Paul finally grasped how hard, exhausting, and perilous boxing is at a respectable level of competition.

An Unimpressive Impressive Victory for Joshua

Joshua, it should be stressed, was not impressive amid the bedlam. After his hollow victory, he performed a cut-throat motion that suggested a clinical and lethal finish when, in truth, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for the majority of the contest. Instead of glowering with menace or exhibiting an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had appeared hesitant and awkward for nearly five rounds.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a fundamental requirement in elite boxing, dictated the result. Lacking the stamina to escape any more, and reduced to falling to the canvas as frequently as he could for a breather, Paul was left defenseless by fatigue. Joshua delivered the brutal ending, but, until then, he had looked like a mournful imitation of the fighter he was in 2017.

The Winner's Post-Fight Assessment

"That was not the best display," Joshua admitted. "The end goal was to catch Jake Paul, pin him down and do damage. That has been the request, and that's what was on my mind. It took a little more time than expected, but the right hand eventually reached its target."

Joshua praised Paul's courage but he added an explanation for his own labored showing. "He faced a real fighter tonight that's had a fifteen-month hiatus," Joshua said, referencing his last loss. "We dusted off the rust, and I am eager to roll into 2026."

What Comes Next: Past Their Prime and New Talent

In the post-fight interview that followed, a jovial Joshua attempted a poor impression of Tyson Fury as he demanded a fight against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will probably get his wish, but that bout comes far too late in their professional journeys. Both fighters are on the downward slope of the peak.

In stark contrast, the most interesting heavyweights in the world are the Ukrainian master and Moses Itauma. Usyk remains the undoubted ruler of the division, having beaten both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rising talent. The youthful British heavyweight would probably have needed less than half the amount of rounds that Joshua needed to knock Paul into a appropriately wowed state.

Paul's Unbowed Response

But the public gets what the public desires, and that certainly means additional low-quality crossover contests. Paul appeared genuinely proud and brash to have had his mandible fractured by a hammer-like right. In the early hours of the next day, he shared an X-ray, with the pair of breaks highlighted in red.

That lighthearted nod to the Mexican superstar, a far greater fighter than Joshua but a equally faded presence, demonstrated that Paul's comic chutzpah is undented. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will soon find another opponent with whom he can make more than $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before departing to the medical facility, Paul spat a streak of blood onto the ring floor. It was another grim summary of the night as Paul mixed blunt truth with gory bullshit and stated: "I think my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A nice little beating from one of the best to ever do it. I adore this shit and I'm going to come back and continue winning."