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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's mouth gaped agape, his eyes becoming huge glazed saucers as he collapsed to the mat in shock and awe following a pulverising right hand from Anthony Joshua. It looked as if Paul was attempting to say "Wow!" as the force of the impact registered to his scrambled senses.

"The audience didn't pay to see this garbage," said the referee, summing up the dismal spectacle much more succinctly than any observer else could.

Trapped in a corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could no longer run or cling to Joshua's legs like a forlorn little boy as the gravity of boxing became clear. Instead, as he tried to absorb the punch that broke his jaw in two separate places, Paul was lost in an completely stunned moment.

So this is how it is like, and looks, to be struck cleanly by a genuine professional fighter, an Olympic gold medallist and former world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is certainly the word.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been sent to the floor, but the result of a clean punch ensured Paul would not be able to rise and waggle his tongue defiantly before the official called the charade over. As blood began to trickle from his lips, and a dull ache spread through his jaw, Paul finally understood how hard, grueling, and dangerous boxing is at a decent level of competition.

A Far From Commanding Win for Joshua

Joshua, it should be stressed, was far from convincing during the chaos. After his empty victory, he made a cut-throat motion that suggested a precise and lethal execution when, in truth, Joshua had appeared exasperated for most of the fight. Rather than glowering with menace or displaying an iron certainty, Joshua had seemed tentative and awkward for nearly five rounds.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a basic essential in elite boxing, dictated the outcome. Lacking the stamina to flee any more, and reduced to slipping to the canvas as often as he could for a breather, Paul was left helpless by fatigue. Joshua applied the brutal finish, but, up to that point, he had looked like a sad imitation of the boxer he had been in 2017.

Joshua's Post-Fight Assessment

"That was not the best display," Joshua admitted. "The end goal was to catch Jake Paul, pin him down and do damage. 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 finally found its target."

Joshua commended Paul's courage but he added an explanation for his own stilted showing. "He came up against a genuine competitor tonight that's had a fifteen-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 Rising Stars

In the post-fight interview that followed, a cheerful Joshua tried out a woeful imitation of Tyson Fury as he demanded a scrap against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will probably have his way, but that bout 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 are Oleksandr Usyk and the British prospect. Usyk is still the undoubted ruler of the division, after defeating both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rising talent. The youthful British heavyweight likely have needed less than half the number of three-minute periods that Joshua required to send Paul into a appropriately astonished stupor.

Paul's Defiant Reaction

But the public receives what the public desires, and that undoubtedly means additional pitiful celebrity fights. Paul seemed truly satisfied and cocky to have had his jaw broken by a hammer-like right. In the early hours of the next day, he shared an X-ray, with the two fractures marked in red.

That jokey nod to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a much superior fighter than Joshua but a similarly diminished force, demonstrated that Paul's brazen audacity remains undented. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly find someone else with whom he can make more than $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before departing to the medical facility, Paul spat a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was one more bleak summary of the evening as Paul mixed blunt truth with blood-flecked bullshit and stated: "I think my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A nice little ass-whipping from one of the greatest to ever step in the ring. I adore this sport and I'm going to return and keep on winning."