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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's mouth gaped agape, his eyes becoming huge glazed saucers as he sank to the mat in stunned disbelief after a pulverising right hand from the former champion. It looked as if Paul was attempting to say "Whoa!" as the force of the blow registered to his rattled senses.

"The fans didn't spend money to see this crap," said the referee, summing up the dismal affair much more succinctly than any observer else managed to.

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

So that is what it is like, and appears, to be hit hard by a genuine boxer, an Olympic gold medallist and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is indeed the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the social media star had been sent to the floor, but the consequences of a proper punch meant Paul could not rise and waggle his tongue defiantly before the referee called the charade to a halt. As blood began to trickle from his mouth, and a dull ache spread through his jawbone, Paul at last grasped how difficult, exhausting, and dangerous boxing is at a decent standard of professionalism.

An Unimpressive Impressive Win for the Victor

Anthony Joshua, it must be noted, was far from convincing amid the bedlam. After his hollow victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that hinted at a clinical and deadly execution when, in truth, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for the majority of the contest. Rather than glowering with menace or displaying an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had seemed hesitant and awkward for almost five stanzas.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a basic essential in elite boxing, shaped the outcome. Without the gas to escape any more, and reduced to falling to the deck as often as he could for a breather, Paul was left defenseless by exhaustion. Joshua delivered the brutal finish, but, up to that point, he had seemed a sad shadow of the fighter he was in 2017.

Joshua's Aftermath Assessment

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

Joshua commended Paul's bravery but he offered an excuse for his own labored performance. "He came up against a genuine competitor tonight that's had a 15-month hiatus," Joshua said, referencing his last loss. "We dusted off the cobwebs, and I am eager to head into 2026."

The Future: Past Their Prime and New Talent

In the post-fight interview afterwards, a jovial Joshua tried out a woeful impression of his domestic rival as he called for a fight against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will likely have his way, but that bout comes much too late in their professional journeys. Both men are on the far side of the hill.

In contrast, the most interesting heavyweights in the world remain the Ukrainian master and the British prospect. Usyk remains the unquestioned ruler of the division, after defeating both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. At the same time, Itauma is a rising talent. The young British heavyweight would probably have needed less than half the number of three-minute periods that Joshua needed to knock Paul into a suitably astonished state.

Paul's Unbowed Reaction

But the public gets what the public wants, and that certainly means more pitiful crossover contests. Paul appeared genuinely satisfied and brash to have had his mandible fractured by a sledgehammer right. In the wee hours of Saturday morning, he posted an radiograph, with the two fractures marked in red.

That lighthearted nod to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a much superior boxer than Joshua but a equally faded presence, showed that Paul's comic chutzpah is unbroken. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly find another opponent with whom he can make more than $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before departing to the hospital, Paul spat a tracer of blood onto the canvas. It was another grim symbol of the night as Paul mixed harsh reality with gory bravado and said: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A nice little beating from one of the greatest to ever do it. I adore this shit and I'm going to come back and continue winning."