🔗 Share this article

The YouTuber-turned-fighter's jaw dropped agape, his expression turning to wide, stunned circles as he collapsed to the canvas in stunned disbelief after a devastating right hand from the former champion. It looked as if Paul was attempting to say "Whoa!" as the force of the blow sank in to his scrambled senses.

"The fans didn't spend money to see this garbage," said the referee, encapsulating the sorry spectacle far more succinctly than any observer else managed to.

Trapped in a neutral corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could no longer run or cling to Joshua's legs like a forlorn little boy as the serious reality of the sweet science became clear. Instead, as he tried to absorb the punch that broke his jaw in two distinct locations, Paul was lost in an utterly stunned moment.

So that is what it feels, and appears, to be hit hard by a real professional fighter, an Olympic gold medallist and ex- 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 punch meant Paul could not get up and taunt his opponent before the official waved the contest to a halt. As blood began to trickle from his lips, and a numbing throb spread through his jawbone, Paul finally understood how hard, exhausting, and perilous boxing is at a respectable level of competition.

A Far From Commanding Victory for Joshua

Anthony Joshua, it should be stressed, was not impressive during the chaos. After his empty victory, he made a cut-throat motion that hinted at a clinical and deadly execution when, in truth, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for the majority of the contest. Instead of exuding intimidation or displaying an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had appeared tentative and crude for almost five stanzas.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a basic essential in top-level boxing, dictated the outcome. Lacking the stamina to escape any more, and reduced to falling to the deck as frequently as he could for a breather, Paul was left helpless by exhaustion. Joshua delivered the brutal ending, but, up to that point, he had seemed a sad shadow of the boxer he had been in 2017.

The Winner's Aftermath Assessment

"That was not the finest display," 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 little more time than anticipated, but the right hand finally found its destination."

Joshua commended Paul's bravery but he added an excuse for his own labored performance. "He faced a real fighter tonight that's had a 15-month hiatus," Joshua said, mentioning his last loss. "We dusted off the rust, and I can't wait to roll into 2026."

What Comes Next: Faded Forces and New Talent

In the press conference that followed, a jovial Joshua attempted a woeful impression of Tyson Fury as he called for a scrap against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will probably get his wish, but that matchup comes much too late in their professional journeys. Both men are on the downward slope of the peak.

In contrast, the most compelling heavyweights in the world are Oleksandr Usyk and Moses Itauma. Usyk remains the unquestioned king of the weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury twice. At the same time, Itauma is a rapidly ascending talent. The young British heavyweight likely have required less than half the number of three-minute periods that Joshua needed to knock Paul into a suitably wowed stupor.

Paul's Defiant Response

But the fans gets what the public wants, and that certainly means more low-quality celebrity contests. Paul appeared truly proud and brash to have had his jaw broken by a sledgehammer right. In the early hours of Saturday morning, he shared an radiograph, with the pair of breaks marked in crimson.

That jokey nod to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a much superior boxer than Joshua but a similarly diminished presence, demonstrated that Paul's comic chutzpah is unbroken. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly locate another opponent with whom he can earn north of $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before leaving for the medical facility, Paul expelled a tracer of blood onto the canvas. It was another grim symbol of the night as Paul mangled blunt truth with blood-flecked bullshit and stated: "I think my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A nice little beating from one of the greatest to ever do it. I adore this sport and I'm going to come back and keep on winning."