🔗 Share this article

The YouTuber-turned-fighter's jaw dropped agape, his eyes becoming wide, stunned circles as he collapsed to the canvas in shock and awe after a devastating right hand from the former champion. It looked as if Paul was attempting to utter "Whoa!" as the force of the impact registered to his rattled senses.

"The audience didn't pay to see this rubbish," said the referee, encapsulating the sorry affair far more effectively than any observer else could.

Trapped in a neutral corner of the ring in the middle of 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 tried to absorb the shot that broke his jaw in two separate places, Paul was lost in an utterly stunned moment.

So that is what it is like, and looks, to be hit hard by a real professional fighter, an Olympic champion and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is indeed the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been knocked down, 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 charade to a halt. As blood began to trickle from his lips, and a dull ache radiated through his jaw, Paul at last understood how difficult, exhausting, and dangerous boxing is at a respectable level of competition.

An Unimpressive Commanding Victory for Joshua

Joshua, it must be noted, was not impressive amid the chaos. After his hollow victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that suggested a precise and lethal execution when, in truth, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for the majority of the fight. Rather than glowering with menace or exhibiting an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had seemed tentative and awkward for nearly five rounds.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a basic essential in top-level boxing, dictated the result. Lacking the stamina to escape any longer, and resorting to slipping to the deck as often as he could for a breather, Paul was rendered defenseless by exhaustion. Joshua applied the vicious finish, but, until then, he had looked like a sad imitation of the fighter he was in 2017.

Joshua's Aftermath Comments

"That was not the best display," Joshua conceded. "The end goal was to get Jake Paul, corner him and hurt him. That has been the request, and that's what was on my thoughts. It took a bit longer than anticipated, but the right hand eventually found its destination."

Joshua praised Paul's courage but he offered an explanation for his own stilted showing. "He faced a real fighter tonight that's had a fifteen-month layoff," Joshua said, referencing his previous loss. "We shook off the rust, and I can't wait to roll into 2026."

The Future: Past Their Prime and Rising Stars

In the press conference that followed, a jovial Joshua tried out a poor impression of his domestic rival as he called for a scrap against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will likely get his wish, but that bout comes much too late in their careers. Both fighters are on the far side of the hill.

In contrast, the most interesting big men in the world are the Ukrainian master and Moses Itauma. Usyk is still the undoubted ruler of the division, having beaten both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rapidly ascending force. The young British heavyweight likely have required less than half the amount of three-minute periods that Joshua needed to send Paul into a appropriately astonished stupor.

Paul's Defiant Reaction

But the fans receives what the public desires, and that undoubtedly means additional low-quality celebrity contests. Paul seemed truly proud and brash to have had his mandible fractured by a hammer-like right. In the early hours of the next day, he posted an radiograph, with the two fractures highlighted in red.

That lighthearted nod to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a much superior boxer than Joshua but a similarly faded force, demonstrated that Paul's comic chutzpah remains undented. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly locate another opponent with whom he can earn more than $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before departing to the hospital, Paul expelled a tracer of blood onto the canvas. It was one more grim summary of the evening as Paul mangled blunt truth with blood-flecked bravado and stated: "I think my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A proper beating from one of the best to ever step in the ring. I adore this shit and I'm going to return and continue winning."