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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's mouth gaped wide open, his expression turning to huge glazed saucers as he sank to the canvas in stunned disbelief after a pulverising right hand from the former champion. It looked as if Paul was trying to say "Whoa!" as the force of the impact registered to his rattled senses.

"The audience didn't spend money to see this garbage," snapped the referee, summing up the sorry affair far more succinctly than anyone else could.

Trapped in a neutral 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 gravity of the sweet science enveloped him. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the shot that fractured his mandible in two separate places, Paul was lost in an utterly stunned moment.

So that is what it is like, and looks, to be hit hard by a genuine boxer, an Olympic champion 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 power shot ensured Paul could not rise and waggle his tongue defiantly before the official called the charade over. As blood began to trickle from his mouth, and a numbing throb radiated through his jaw, Paul at last grasped how difficult, grueling, and dangerous boxing is at a decent standard of professionalism.

A Far From Commanding Victory for the Victor

Joshua, it should be stressed, was not impressive during the chaos. After his hollow victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that suggested a precise and lethal finish when, in reality, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for most of the fight. Rather than exuding intimidation or exhibiting an iron certainty, Joshua had appeared tentative and crude for almost five rounds.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a basic essential in top-level boxing, dictated the outcome. Without the gas to flee any more, and reduced to slipping to the deck as frequently as he could for a breather, Paul was left helpless by fatigue. Joshua delivered the vicious ending, but, up to that point, he had seemed a mournful shadow of the fighter he had been in 2017.

Joshua's Aftermath Assessment

"It wasn't the best performance," Joshua conceded. "The objective was to catch Jake Paul, pin him down and hurt him. That has been the request, and that's what was on my mind. It took a bit longer than expected, but the straight right eventually found its destination."

Joshua commended Paul's courage but he offered an explanation for his own stilted showing. "He came up against a real fighter tonight that's had a fifteen-month hiatus," Joshua said, mentioning his previous defeat. "We dusted off the rust, and I am eager to head into 2026."

What Comes Next: Faded Forces and New Talent

In the post-fight interview afterwards, a jovial Joshua attempted a woeful impression of Tyson Fury as he called for a scrap against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will probably get his wish, but that matchup comes much too late in their careers. Both men are on the downward slope of the hill.

In contrast, the most compelling heavyweights in the world remain the Ukrainian master and the British prospect. Usyk is still the unquestioned king of the weight class, after defeating both Joshua and Fury twice. At the same time, Itauma is a rising talent. The youthful British heavyweight would probably have needed fewer than half the amount of three-minute periods that Joshua needed to knock Paul into a suitably astonished stupor.

The Defeated Fighter's Defiant Response

But the fans receives what the public desires, and that undoubtedly means more pitiful celebrity contests. Paul seemed truly satisfied and brash to have had his jaw broken by a hammer-like right. In the wee hours of Saturday morning, he posted an X-ray, with the pair of breaks marked in crimson.

That jokey nod to the Mexican superstar, a far greater fighter than Joshua but a similarly diminished force, showed that Paul's comic chutzpah remains unbroken. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will soon locate another opponent with whom he can earn more than $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before leaving for the hospital, Paul spat a tracer of blood onto the canvas. It was another grim summary of the night as Paul mangled harsh reality with blood-flecked bravado and said: "I think my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A nice little ass-whipping from one of the best to ever do it. I love this sport and I'm going to return and continue winning."