🔗 Share this article

The YouTuber-turned-fighter's jaw dropped wide open, his eyes becoming 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 utter "Wow!" as the severity of the impact registered to his scrambled senses.

"The audience didn't pay to see this rubbish," said the referee, encapsulating the dismal affair much more succinctly than any observer else managed to.

Trapped in a neutral 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 gravity of the sweet science enveloped him. Instead, as he tried to absorb the punch that broke his jaw in two separate places, Paul was caught in an utterly dazed moment.

So this is how it feels, and appears, to be hit hard by a genuine professional fighter, an Olympic champion and former world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is certainly the word.

It was the fourth time the social media star had been knocked down, but the consequences of a proper power shot ensured Paul would not be able to get up and waggle his tongue defiantly before the referee waved the contest over. As blood began to leak from his lips, and a dull ache spread through his jawbone, Paul finally grasped how hard, grueling, and dangerous boxing is at a respectable standard of professionalism.

A Far From Impressive Win for Joshua

Joshua, it should be stressed, was not impressive amid the chaos. After his empty victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that hinted at a clinical and lethal finish when, in truth, Joshua had appeared exasperated for the majority of the contest. Rather than glowering with menace or displaying an iron certainty, Joshua had appeared tentative and awkward for nearly five stanzas.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a fundamental requirement in top-level boxing, shaped the result. Without the gas to escape any more, and resorting to falling to the canvas as often as he could for a breather, Paul was rendered defenseless by fatigue. Joshua delivered the brutal ending, but, until then, he had seemed a mournful shadow of the fighter he was in 2017.

Joshua's Post-Fight Comments

"That was not the best performance," Joshua admitted. "The end goal was to get Jake Paul, pin him down and do damage. That has been the plan, and that's what was on my mind. It took a bit longer than expected, but the right hand eventually reached its destination."

Joshua praised Paul's bravery but he added an excuse for his own stilted showing. "He came up against a genuine competitor tonight that's had a fifteen-month layoff," Joshua said, referencing his last defeat. "We dusted off the cobwebs, and I am eager to roll into 2026."

The Future: Faded Forces and Rising Stars

In the press conference afterwards, a cheerful Joshua attempted a poor 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 far too late in their careers. Both men are on the downward slope of the hill.

In contrast, the most compelling big men in the world remain the Ukrainian master and the British prospect. Usyk remains the unquestioned king of the weight class, after defeating both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rapidly ascending force. The youthful British heavyweight likely have needed fewer than half the amount of rounds that Joshua needed to send Paul into a appropriately wowed stupor.

Paul's Defiant Response

But the public gets what the public desires, and that undoubtedly means more pitiful crossover fights. Paul seemed truly proud and cocky to have had his jaw broken by a hammer-like right. In the wee hours of the next day, he posted an radiograph, with the pair of breaks highlighted in red.

That lighthearted reference to the Mexican superstar, a far greater boxer than Joshua but a equally faded force, showed that Paul's comic chutzpah remains unbroken. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will soon find someone else with whom he can earn more than $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before leaving for the medical facility, Paul spat a streak of blood onto the canvas. It was one more bleak symbol of the night as Paul mixed harsh reality with blood-flecked bravado and stated: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A proper beating from one of the best to ever step in the ring. I love this sport and I'm going to come back and keep on winning."