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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's mouth gaped agape, his expression turning to wide, stunned circles as he collapsed to the mat in shock and awe after a devastating right hand from the former champion. It looked as if Paul was trying to say "Wow!" as the severity of the impact registered to his scrambled senses.

"Those watching didn't pay to see this crap," snapped the referee, summing up the sorry affair much more succinctly than anyone else could.

Trapped in a corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could not retreat or hold on 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 stunned moment.

So that is what it is like, and appears, to be struck cleanly by a real boxer, an Olympic champion 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 power shot ensured Paul would not be able to rise and taunt his opponent before the official called the contest over. As blood began to trickle from his mouth, and a dull ache radiated through his jawbone, Paul at last grasped how hard, exhausting, and dangerous boxing is at a decent level of competition.

A Far From Impressive Win for the Victor

Joshua, it should be stressed, was not impressive amid the bedlam. After his empty victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that suggested a clinical and deadly finish when, in reality, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for the majority of the contest. Instead of glowering with menace or displaying an iron certainty, Joshua had appeared tentative and crude for nearly five stanzas.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a fundamental requirement in top-level boxing, shaped the result. Lacking the stamina to escape any more, and reduced to falling to the deck as often as he could for a rest, Paul was left helpless by fatigue. Joshua delivered the brutal finish, but, up to that point, he had seemed a sad shadow of the fighter he had been in 2017.

Joshua's Aftermath Assessment

"It wasn't the best performance," Joshua conceded. "The end goal was to get Jake Paul, corner him and do damage. That has been the plan, and that's what was on my thoughts. It took a little more time than anticipated, but the right hand finally found its target."

Joshua praised 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 loss. "We shook off the cobwebs, and I am eager to roll into 2026."

What Comes Next: Faded Forces and Rising Stars

In the post-fight interview afterwards, a cheerful Joshua attempted a poor impression of Tyson Fury as he demanded a fight against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will probably get his wish, but that matchup comes much too late in their careers. Both men are on the downward slope 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 twice. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rapidly ascending force. The youthful British heavyweight would probably have required less than half the amount of three-minute periods that Joshua needed to knock Paul into a appropriately wowed stupor.

Paul's Unbowed Response

But the fans gets what the public wants, and that certainly means additional low-quality crossover fights. Paul appeared 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 X-ray, with the pair of breaks marked in red.

That lighthearted reference to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a much superior fighter than Joshua but a equally faded presence, showed that Paul's comic chutzpah remains unbroken. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly find someone else with whom he can make north of $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before leaving for the hospital, Paul expelled a streak of blood onto the ring floor. It was another bleak summary of the night as Paul mangled harsh reality with gory bullshit and said: "I believe 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 sport and I'm going to return and continue winning."