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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's mouth gaped wide open, his expression turning to huge glazed saucers as he collapsed to the mat in stunned disbelief following a pulverising right hand from the former champion. It appeared as if Paul was trying to utter "Wow!" as the force of the blow registered to his rattled senses.

"The audience didn't spend money to see this garbage," said the referee, encapsulating the sorry spectacle much more effectively than any observer else managed to.

Pinned in a neutral corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could no longer run 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 fractured his mandible in two distinct locations, Paul was caught in an utterly dazed moment.

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

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been sent to the floor, but the result of a clean punch meant Paul could not rise and taunt his opponent before the referee called the contest to a halt. As blood began to leak from his lips, and a numbing throb spread through his jawbone, Paul finally grasped how hard, grueling, and dangerous boxing is at a decent level of competition.

A Far From Commanding Win for Joshua

Joshua, it must be noted, was far from convincing amid the chaos. After his empty victory, he made a cut-throat motion that suggested a clinical and deadly execution 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 nearly five stanzas.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a basic essential in elite boxing, shaped the outcome. Without the gas to escape any more, and reduced to slipping to the deck as frequently as he could for a breather, Paul was left helpless by exhaustion. Joshua delivered the vicious ending, but, until then, he had looked like a mournful shadow of the fighter he was in 2017.

Joshua's Aftermath Assessment

"It wasn't the finest display," Joshua admitted. "The objective was to catch Jake Paul, corner him and do damage. 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 commended Paul's bravery but he added an excuse for his own stilted performance. "He came up against a real fighter 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 New Talent

In the press conference that followed, a jovial Joshua tried out a poor imitation of his domestic rival as he demanded a fight against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will likely have his way, but that matchup comes far too late in their careers. Both fighters are on the far side of the hill.

In stark contrast, the most compelling big men in the world are 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 rising force. The young British heavyweight likely have needed fewer than half the amount of rounds that Joshua required to send Paul into a appropriately wowed stupor.

Paul's Defiant Reaction

But the fans receives what the public wants, and that undoubtedly means additional low-quality celebrity fights. Paul seemed truly satisfied and brash to have had his jaw broken by a hammer-like right. In the early hours of Saturday morning, he shared an radiograph, with the two fractures marked in red.

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

While he was being interviewed, before departing to the medical facility, Paul expelled a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was another bleak symbol of the evening as Paul mixed blunt truth with blood-flecked bravado and said: "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 love this shit and I'm going to come back and continue winning."