🔗 Share this article

The YouTuber-turned-fighter's jaw dropped wide open, his expression turning to huge glazed saucers as he sank to the mat in shock and awe after a pulverising right hand from Anthony Joshua. It appeared as if Paul was attempting to say "Wow!" as the force of the impact sank in to his scrambled senses.

"The audience didn't spend money to see this garbage," said the referee, encapsulating the sorry spectacle much more succinctly than anyone else could.

Pinned in a neutral corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could not retreat or cling to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the gravity of boxing became clear. Instead, as he tried to absorb the punch that broke his jaw in two distinct locations, Paul was lost in an utterly stunned moment.

So that is what it is like, and appears, to be struck cleanly by a real boxer, an Olympic champion and former world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is certainly the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the social media star had been sent to the floor, but the result of a proper punch meant Paul could not rise and waggle his tongue defiantly before the official waved the contest to a halt. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a dull ache radiated through his jawbone, Paul finally grasped how hard, grueling, and perilous boxing is at a decent level of competition.

A Far From Commanding Win for the Victor

Anthony Joshua, it should be stressed, was not impressive during the chaos. After his empty victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that hinted at a precise and lethal finish when, in truth, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for most of the fight. Rather than exuding intimidation or exhibiting an iron certainty, Joshua had seemed hesitant and awkward for almost five stanzas.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a fundamental requirement in elite boxing, dictated the outcome. Without the gas to escape any more, and resorting to falling to the canvas as frequently as he could for a breather, Paul was left helpless by fatigue. Joshua applied the brutal finish, but, up to that point, he had seemed a mournful shadow of the fighter he was in 2017.

The Winner's Post-Fight Assessment

"That was not the best display," Joshua conceded. "The end goal was to catch Jake Paul, pin him down and hurt him. That has been the plan, and that's what was on my thoughts. It took a bit longer than expected, but the straight right finally reached its target."

Joshua praised Paul's bravery but he added an explanation for his own labored showing. "He came up against a genuine competitor tonight that's had a 15-month hiatus," Joshua said, mentioning his last defeat. "We shook off the rust, and I am eager to head into 2026."

What Comes Next: Past Their Prime and Rising Stars

In the press conference that followed, a jovial Joshua tried out a woeful imitation of Tyson Fury as he called for a scrap against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will likely get his wish, but that matchup comes far too late in their careers. Both men are on the far side of the hill.

In contrast, the most compelling heavyweights in the world remain Oleksandr Usyk and the British prospect. Usyk remains the unquestioned ruler of the division, having beaten both Joshua and Fury twice. At the same time, Itauma is a rising force. The youthful British heavyweight likely have required less than half the number of rounds that Joshua needed to knock Paul into a appropriately astonished state.

The Defeated Fighter's Defiant Reaction

But the fans gets what the public wants, and that undoubtedly means additional pitiful crossover fights. Paul appeared genuinely satisfied 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 two fractures highlighted in crimson.

That lighthearted reference to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a far greater boxer than Joshua but a equally faded force, showed that Paul's brazen audacity remains undented. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will soon find another opponent with whom he can earn more than $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before departing to the medical facility, Paul spat a streak of blood onto the canvas. It was another bleak symbol of the evening as Paul mangled blunt truth with gory bullshit and stated: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's definitely 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 come back and continue winning."