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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's jaw dropped agape, 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 appeared as if Paul was trying to say "Wow!" as the force of the blow sank in to his rattled senses.

"The fans didn't pay to see this rubbish," snapped the referee, encapsulating the dismal spectacle much more effectively than anyone else managed to.

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 serious reality of boxing became clear. Instead, as he tried to absorb the punch that fractured his mandible in two separate places, Paul was lost in an utterly dazed moment.

So this is how it feels, and looks, to be struck cleanly by a real professional fighter, an Olympic champion and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is certainly the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been knocked down, but the consequences of a clean punch ensured Paul could not rise and taunt his opponent before the official called the contest to a halt. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a dull ache radiated through his jaw, Paul at last grasped how difficult, exhausting, and perilous boxing is at a respectable level of professionalism.

A Far From Commanding Victory for Joshua

Anthony Joshua, it must be noted, was not impressive amid the chaos. After his hollow victory, he made a cut-throat motion that suggested a precise and lethal finish when, in reality, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for most of the fight. Rather than glowering with menace or exhibiting an iron certainty, Joshua had appeared tentative and awkward for almost five stanzas.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a fundamental requirement in elite boxing, shaped the result. Without the gas to escape any longer, and resorting to falling to the deck as often as he could for a breather, Paul was rendered defenseless by fatigue. Joshua delivered the brutal ending, but, up to that point, he had looked like a mournful imitation of the boxer he was in 2017.

Joshua's Aftermath Assessment

"That was not the finest display," Joshua conceded. "The objective was to get Jake Paul, corner him and hurt him. That has been the plan, and that's what was on my mind. It took a bit longer than expected, but the right hand finally reached its destination."

Joshua commended Paul's bravery but he added an explanation for his own labored performance. "He came up against a real fighter tonight that's had a 15-month layoff," Joshua said, mentioning his last loss. "We dusted off the cobwebs, and I can't wait to head into 2026."

The Future: Past Their Prime and Rising Stars

In the press conference afterwards, a jovial Joshua tried out a woeful imitation of Tyson Fury as he demanded a fight against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will likely have his way, but that matchup comes far too late in their professional journeys. Both men are on the downward slope of the hill.

In stark contrast, the most interesting heavyweights in the world are the Ukrainian master and Moses Itauma. Usyk remains the unquestioned ruler of the division, after defeating both Joshua and Fury twice. At the same time, Itauma is a rising force. The young British heavyweight likely have needed less than half the amount of rounds that Joshua needed to knock Paul into a suitably astonished stupor.

Paul's Unbowed Reaction

But the fans gets what the public desires, and that certainly means more pitiful celebrity fights. Paul appeared truly satisfied and cocky to have had his mandible fractured by a sledgehammer right. In the early hours of Saturday morning, he posted an X-ray, with the pair of breaks highlighted in red.

That jokey nod to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a far greater boxer than Joshua but a equally diminished 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 more than $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before leaving for the hospital, Paul expelled a streak of blood onto the ring floor. It was one more bleak summary of the night as Paul mixed blunt truth with gory bravado and stated: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A proper beating from one of the best to ever step in the ring. I love this sport and I'm going to return and continue winning."