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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's mouth gaped agape, his eyes becoming wide, stunned circles as he sank to the canvas in shock and awe after a devastating right hand from the former champion. It looked as if Paul was attempting to say "Wow!" as the force of the blow sank in to his rattled senses.

"The audience didn't pay to see this garbage," said the referee, encapsulating the dismal spectacle much more effectively than anyone else could.

Trapped in a corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could not run or hold on to Joshua's legs like a forlorn little boy as the gravity of the sweet science enveloped him. Instead, as he tried to absorb the punch that fractured his mandible in two distinct locations, Paul was lost in an utterly 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 certainly the word.

It was the fourth time the social media star had been sent to the floor, but the consequences of a clean power shot ensured Paul would not be able to rise and waggle his tongue defiantly before the referee waved the contest over. As blood began to trickle from his lips, and a numbing throb radiated through his jaw, Paul at last understood how hard, exhausting, and dangerous boxing is at a respectable standard of professionalism.

A Far From Impressive Victory for the Victor

Joshua, it should be stressed, was not impressive during the bedlam. After his hollow victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that suggested a precise and lethal finish when, in truth, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for most of the fight. Instead of exuding intimidation or displaying an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had appeared tentative and awkward for almost five rounds.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a basic essential in elite boxing, shaped the result. Lacking the stamina to escape any more, and reduced to slipping to the canvas as often as he could for a rest, Paul was rendered helpless by exhaustion. Joshua applied the vicious ending, but, until then, he had looked like a sad shadow of the fighter he was in 2017.

Joshua's Aftermath Assessment

"It wasn't the best display," Joshua conceded. "The end goal was to get Jake Paul, pin him down and hurt him. That has been the plan, and that's what was on my thoughts. It took a little more time than anticipated, but the straight right eventually reached its destination."

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

The Future: Faded Forces and Rising Stars

In the post-fight interview afterwards, a jovial Joshua attempted a woeful impression of Tyson Fury as he called for a fight against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will probably get his wish, but that matchup comes much too late in their professional journeys. Both fighters are on the far side of the peak.

In stark contrast, the most interesting heavyweights in the world remain Oleksandr Usyk and Moses Itauma. Usyk remains the unquestioned king of the weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. At the same time, Itauma is a rising force. The young British heavyweight would probably have needed fewer than half the number of rounds that Joshua needed to knock Paul into a suitably wowed state.

The Defeated Fighter's Defiant Reaction

But the fans receives what the public desires, and that undoubtedly means more pitiful crossover contests. Paul appeared truly satisfied and cocky to have had his jaw broken by a hammer-like right. In the wee hours of the next day, he shared an radiograph, with the two fractures marked in red.

That lighthearted nod to the Mexican superstar, a much superior fighter than Joshua but a equally faded presence, showed that Paul's brazen audacity is undented. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly locate someone else with whom he can earn north of $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before leaving for the hospital, Paul expelled a tracer of blood onto the canvas. It was another grim symbol of the evening as Paul mangled blunt truth with gory bravado and said: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A nice little ass-whipping from one of the best to ever step in the ring. I adore this shit and I'm going to return and keep on winning."