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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's mouth gaped wide open, his expression turning to wide, stunned circles as he sank to the mat in stunned disbelief following a pulverising right hand from the former champion. It appeared as if Paul was trying to say "Wow!" as the force of the impact registered to his scrambled senses.

"The fans didn't pay to see this garbage," said the referee, encapsulating the sorry spectacle much more effectively than any observer else could.

Trapped in a neutral corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could no longer run or hold on to Joshua's legs like a forlorn little boy as the gravity of boxing enveloped him. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the shot that fractured his mandible in two separate places, Paul was lost in an completely stunned moment.

So this is how it feels, and appears, to be struck cleanly by a genuine 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 sent to the floor, but the consequences of a clean punch meant Paul could not rise and taunt his opponent before the referee called the contest over. As blood began to trickle from his lips, and a numbing throb spread through his jawbone, Paul finally understood how hard, grueling, and dangerous boxing is at a decent standard of competition.

A Far From Commanding Victory for Joshua

Anthony Joshua, it should be stressed, was far from convincing amid the bedlam. After his empty victory, he performed a cut-throat motion that suggested a precise and lethal finish when, in truth, Joshua had appeared exasperated for the majority of the contest. Instead of exuding intimidation or displaying an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had seemed tentative and crude for nearly five stanzas.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a fundamental requirement in top-level boxing, dictated the result. Lacking the stamina to escape any more, and reduced to slipping to the canvas as frequently as he could for a rest, Paul was rendered defenseless by exhaustion. Joshua applied the brutal ending, but, up to that point, he had seemed a mournful shadow of the fighter he had been in 2017.

Joshua's Aftermath Assessment

"That was not the finest performance," Joshua conceded. "The end goal was to catch Jake Paul, corner him and do damage. That has been the request, and that's what was on my thoughts. It took a bit longer than anticipated, but the right hand finally reached its target."

Joshua commended Paul's courage but he offered an excuse for his own labored performance. "He faced a real fighter tonight that's had a fifteen-month hiatus," Joshua said, mentioning his last defeat. "We shook off the rust, and I can't wait 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 poor imitation of Tyson Fury as he called for a scrap against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will likely have his way, but that bout comes far too late in their careers. Both men are on the downward slope of the hill.

In stark contrast, the most interesting heavyweights in the world remain the Ukrainian master and Moses Itauma. Usyk remains the unquestioned ruler of the weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury twice. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rapidly ascending force. The young British heavyweight would probably have required fewer than half the amount of three-minute periods that Joshua required to knock Paul into a appropriately wowed stupor.

Paul's Defiant Reaction

But the public receives what the public wants, and that undoubtedly means more pitiful celebrity contests. Paul seemed genuinely satisfied and cocky to have had his jaw broken by a sledgehammer right. In the wee hours of Saturday morning, he shared an X-ray, with the pair of breaks highlighted in crimson.

That jokey reference to the Mexican superstar, a much superior fighter than Joshua but a similarly diminished force, demonstrated that Paul's comic chutzpah remains undented. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will soon locate someone else with whom he can make more than $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before departing to the medical facility, Paul expelled a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was one more bleak summary of the night as Paul mixed blunt truth with gory bullshit and stated: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A nice little ass-whipping from one of the best to ever step in the ring. I adore this shit and I'm going to return and continue winning."