🔗 Share this article

The YouTuber-turned-fighter's jaw dropped wide open, his expression turning to huge glazed saucers as he collapsed to the mat in stunned disbelief following a devastating right hand from the former champion. It looked as if Paul was attempting to say "Wow!" as the force of the blow registered to his scrambled senses.

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

Trapped in a corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could not run or hold on to Joshua's legs like a forlorn little boy as the gravity of the sweet science became clear. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the punch that broke his jaw in two separate places, Paul was caught in an utterly stunned moment.

So that is what it feels, and appears, to be hit hard by a genuine professional fighter, an Olympic gold medallist and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Wow" 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 would not be able to rise and taunt his opponent before the official waved the charade to a halt. As blood began to trickle from his lips, and a dull ache spread through his jawbone, Paul finally understood how hard, grueling, and dangerous boxing is at a respectable level of competition.

A Far From Impressive Victory for Joshua

Anthony Joshua, it should be stressed, was far from convincing amid the chaos. After his hollow victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that hinted at a clinical and deadly execution when, in reality, Joshua had appeared exasperated for most of the fight. Rather than glowering with menace or exhibiting an iron certainty, Joshua had appeared hesitant and awkward for almost five rounds.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a fundamental requirement in elite boxing, shaped the result. Without the gas to flee any more, and resorting to falling to the deck as often as he could for a rest, Paul was left defenseless by exhaustion. Joshua delivered the brutal ending, but, until then, he had seemed a sad shadow of the boxer he had been in 2017.

Joshua's Post-Fight Assessment

"That was not the best display," Joshua conceded. "The end goal was to catch Jake Paul, pin him down and do damage. That has been the request, and that's what was on my mind. It took a little more time than expected, but the straight right finally reached its destination."

Joshua praised Paul's bravery but he added an explanation for his own labored showing. "He faced a real fighter tonight that's had a fifteen-month layoff," Joshua said, referencing his last defeat. "We dusted off the rust, and I am eager to head into 2026."

The Future: Past Their Prime and New Talent

In the post-fight interview afterwards, a jovial Joshua attempted a poor imitation of his domestic rival as he demanded a scrap against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will likely have his way, 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 big men in the world are Oleksandr Usyk and the British prospect. Usyk is still the unquestioned king of the weight class, after defeating both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rising force. The young British heavyweight likely have needed less than half the number of three-minute periods that Joshua required to send Paul into a appropriately wowed state.

The Defeated Fighter's Unbowed Response

But the public gets what the public wants, and that certainly means additional low-quality crossover contests. Paul seemed truly proud and brash to have had his mandible fractured by a hammer-like 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 fighter than Joshua but a equally diminished presence, demonstrated that Paul's brazen audacity is unbroken. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will soon locate another opponent with whom he can make north of $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before leaving for the medical facility, Paul expelled a tracer of blood onto the canvas. It was another bleak symbol of the evening as Paul mangled blunt truth with gory bravado and stated: "I think my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A proper beating from one of the greatest to ever do it. I love this shit and I'm going to return and continue winning."