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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's mouth gaped wide open, his eyes becoming huge glazed saucers as he collapsed to the canvas in stunned disbelief after a devastating right hand from Anthony Joshua. It appeared as if Paul was trying to say "Whoa!" as the severity of the blow registered to his scrambled senses.

"The audience didn't spend money to see this garbage," snapped the referee, summing up the dismal affair much more effectively than anyone else could.

Pinned in a corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could not retreat or hold on to Joshua's legs like a forlorn little boy as the serious reality of boxing enveloped him. Instead, as he tried to absorb the shot that broke his jaw in two separate places, Paul was lost in an completely dazed moment.

So this is how it is like, and appears, to be struck cleanly by a real professional fighter, an Olympic gold medallist and former world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is certainly the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the social media star had been knocked down, but the consequences of a clean power shot meant Paul could not rise and taunt his opponent before the official waved the contest over. As blood began to leak from his lips, and a numbing throb spread through his jawbone, Paul at last understood how hard, exhausting, and perilous boxing is at a decent standard of competition.

A Far From Commanding Win for the Victor

Joshua, it must be noted, was not impressive during the bedlam. After his hollow victory, he performed a throat-slitting gesture that hinted at a clinical and deadly execution when, in truth, Joshua had appeared exasperated for most of the fight. Rather than exuding intimidation or displaying an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had seemed hesitant and crude for nearly five stanzas.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a basic essential in elite boxing, dictated the outcome. Without the gas to escape any more, and resorting to falling to the deck as frequently as he could for a breather, Paul was left defenseless by exhaustion. Joshua delivered the brutal ending, but, until then, he had seemed a sad shadow of the boxer he was in 2017.

The Winner's Post-Fight Comments

"It wasn't the best performance," Joshua admitted. "The end goal was to catch Jake Paul, pin him down and hurt him. That has been the request, and that's what was on my mind. It took a bit longer than anticipated, but the right hand eventually reached its destination."

Joshua commended Paul's courage but he offered an excuse for his own stilted showing. "He faced a real fighter tonight that's had a fifteen-month hiatus," Joshua said, referencing his last defeat. "We dusted off the cobwebs, and I am eager to roll into 2026."

What Comes Next: Past Their Prime and Rising Stars

In the press conference that followed, a jovial Joshua attempted a woeful imitation of his domestic rival as he demanded a fight against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will probably get his wish, but that matchup comes much too late in their careers. Both fighters are on the downward slope of the hill.

In contrast, the most interesting big men in the world are the Ukrainian master and the British prospect. Usyk is still the undoubted ruler of the division, having beaten both Joshua and Fury twice. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rapidly ascending talent. The young British heavyweight would probably have required fewer than half the amount of rounds that Joshua needed to send Paul into a suitably astonished stupor.

The Defeated Fighter's Unbowed Response

But the public gets what the public wants, and that undoubtedly means additional low-quality celebrity fights. Paul appeared genuinely satisfied and brash to have had his jaw broken by a hammer-like right. In the wee hours of Saturday morning, he shared an X-ray, with the two fractures highlighted in crimson.

That jokey nod to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a far greater boxer than Joshua but a similarly faded presence, showed that Paul's comic chutzpah remains undented. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will soon locate another opponent with whom he can earn more than $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before departing to the medical facility, Paul spat a tracer of blood onto the canvas. It was another grim symbol of the evening as Paul mixed blunt truth with gory 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 shit and I'm going to come back and continue winning."