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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's jaw dropped agape, his eyes becoming huge glazed saucers as he sank to the mat in shock and awe after a devastating right hand from the former champion. It appeared as if Paul was trying to utter "Whoa!" as the force of the blow sank in to his scrambled senses.

"Those watching didn't spend money to see this garbage," said the referee, summing up the dismal affair far more effectively than any observer else could.

Pinned in a corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could not retreat or cling 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 broke his jaw in two distinct locations, Paul was caught in an utterly dazed moment.

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

It was the fourth time the social media star had been sent to the floor, but the consequences of a clean power shot meant Paul would not be able to rise and waggle his tongue defiantly before the referee waved the contest over. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a numbing throb spread through his jaw, Paul at last grasped how hard, exhausting, and dangerous boxing is at a respectable standard of professionalism.

A Far From Impressive Victory for Joshua

Joshua, it should be stressed, was far from convincing amid the bedlam. After his empty victory, he performed a throat-slitting gesture that suggested a clinical and lethal finish when, in reality, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for most of the contest. Instead of glowering with menace or displaying an iron certainty, Joshua had seemed tentative and crude for almost five stanzas.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a fundamental requirement in top-level boxing, dictated the result. Lacking the stamina to escape any longer, and resorting to falling to the canvas as frequently as he could for a rest, Paul was rendered defenseless by fatigue. Joshua applied the brutal ending, but, until then, he had looked like a sad shadow of the boxer he had been in 2017.

Joshua's Aftermath Comments

"That was not the finest performance," Joshua conceded. "The objective was to get Jake Paul, pin him down and hurt him. That has been the request, and that's what was on my mind. It took a little more time than anticipated, but the straight right finally reached its target."

Joshua commended Paul's courage but he added an excuse for his own labored performance. "He faced a real fighter tonight that's had a fifteen-month layoff," Joshua said, mentioning his last defeat. "We shook off the rust, and I am eager to roll into 2026."

What Comes Next: Faded Forces and New Talent

In the press conference that followed, a cheerful Joshua attempted a poor impression of his domestic rival as he called for a fight against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will probably get his wish, but that bout comes much too late in their professional journeys. Both fighters are on the far side 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 division, after defeating both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rapidly ascending talent. The youthful British heavyweight would probably have needed fewer than half the number of three-minute periods that Joshua needed to knock Paul into a appropriately astonished state.

Paul's Unbowed Reaction

But the public gets what the public desires, and that certainly means additional pitiful crossover contests. Paul appeared truly proud and cocky to have had his mandible fractured by a hammer-like right. In the early hours of Saturday morning, he shared an radiograph, with the pair of breaks highlighted in crimson.

That jokey nod to the Mexican superstar, a far greater fighter than Joshua but a equally diminished force, showed that Paul's brazen audacity is unbroken. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will soon find another opponent with whom he can earn north of $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before leaving for the hospital, Paul spat a streak of blood onto the ring floor. It was another bleak summary of the night as Paul mangled blunt truth with blood-flecked bullshit and stated: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A nice little beating from one of the best to ever step in the ring. I love this shit and I'm going to come back and continue winning."