🔗 Share this article

The YouTuber-turned-fighter's mouth gaped wide open, his eyes becoming wide, stunned circles as he sank to the mat in stunned disbelief following a devastating right hand from Anthony Joshua. It looked as if Paul was trying to utter "Wow!" as the severity of the impact registered to his scrambled senses.

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

Trapped in a corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could not run or cling to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the serious reality of the sweet science became clear. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the punch that fractured his mandible in two separate places, Paul was caught in an utterly dazed moment.

So this is how it is like, and appears, to be hit hard by a genuine boxer, an Olympic champion and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is certainly the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been sent to the floor, but the result of a clean power shot meant Paul could not rise and taunt his opponent before the referee called the contest to a halt. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a numbing throb radiated through his jawbone, Paul finally grasped how difficult, grueling, and perilous boxing is at a decent standard of competition.

A Far From Impressive Victory for Joshua

Joshua, it must be noted, was not impressive amid the bedlam. 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 the majority of the contest. Rather than exuding intimidation or displaying an iron certainty, Joshua had appeared hesitant and awkward for nearly five rounds.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a fundamental requirement in top-level boxing, dictated the outcome. Without the gas to escape any longer, and resorting to falling to the canvas as often as he could for a rest, Paul was rendered helpless by exhaustion. Joshua applied the brutal ending, but, until then, he had seemed a mournful imitation of the fighter he was in 2017.

The Winner's Post-Fight Assessment

"That was not the finest performance," Joshua admitted. "The end goal was to catch Jake Paul, pin him down and hurt him. That has been the plan, and that's what was on my mind. It took a bit longer than anticipated, but the straight right finally reached its destination."

Joshua praised Paul's courage but he offered an excuse for his own labored performance. "He came up against a real fighter tonight that's had a fifteen-month layoff," Joshua said, referencing his previous defeat. "We shook off the cobwebs, and I can't wait to roll into 2026."

What Comes Next: Past Their Prime and Rising Stars

In the post-fight interview that followed, a cheerful Joshua tried out a woeful impression of Tyson Fury as he demanded a fight against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will probably get his wish, but that bout comes far too late in their professional journeys. Both men are on the far side of the peak.

In stark contrast, the most compelling heavyweights in the world remain the Ukrainian master and Moses Itauma. Usyk remains the unquestioned king of the weight class, after defeating both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. At the same time, Itauma is a rapidly ascending talent. The youthful British heavyweight likely have needed less than half the number of three-minute periods that Joshua needed to send Paul into a suitably wowed state.

Paul's Defiant Response

But the public gets what the public wants, and that certainly means additional low-quality celebrity contests. Paul appeared truly satisfied and cocky to have had his jaw broken by a sledgehammer right. In the early hours of Saturday morning, he posted an radiograph, with the pair of breaks marked in red.

That jokey nod to the Mexican superstar, a much superior boxer than Joshua but a similarly faded presence, showed that Paul's brazen audacity remains unbroken. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly 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 tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was another grim symbol of the evening as Paul mangled harsh reality with blood-flecked bullshit and said: "I think my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A nice little beating from one of the greatest to ever step in the ring. I love this sport and I'm going to return and keep on winning."