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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's mouth gaped agape, his expression turning to huge glazed saucers as he collapsed to the canvas in stunned disbelief following a devastating right hand from Anthony Joshua. It looked as if Paul was attempting to say "Wow!" as the force of the impact sank in to his scrambled senses.

"The audience didn't pay to see this rubbish," snapped the referee, encapsulating the dismal affair much more effectively than anyone 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 boxing enveloped him. Instead, as he tried to absorb the shot that fractured his mandible in two separate places, Paul was caught in an utterly dazed moment.

So that is what it is like, and looks, to be struck cleanly by a genuine professional fighter, an Olympic gold medallist and former world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is indeed the word.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber 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 referee waved the charade over. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a numbing throb radiated through his jawbone, Paul at last grasped how hard, exhausting, and dangerous boxing is at a respectable standard of professionalism.

An Unimpressive Commanding Win for the Victor

Joshua, it should be stressed, was far from convincing amid the chaos. After his empty victory, he performed a cut-throat motion that hinted at a clinical and lethal finish when, in reality, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for most of the fight. Rather than exuding intimidation or exhibiting an iron certainty, Joshua had appeared hesitant and crude for nearly five rounds.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a basic essential in elite boxing, dictated the result. Without the gas to escape any more, and reduced to falling to the deck as often as he could for a breather, Paul was rendered defenseless by fatigue. Joshua applied the vicious finish, but, up to that point, he had seemed a mournful imitation of the fighter he was in 2017.

The Winner's Post-Fight Comments

"That was not the best display," Joshua conceded. "The objective was to get Jake Paul, corner him and hurt him. 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 eventually found its target."

Joshua commended Paul's courage but he added an explanation for his own stilted showing. "He came up against a real fighter tonight that's had a 15-month hiatus," Joshua said, referencing his previous loss. "We shook off the rust, and I can't wait to roll into 2026."

What Comes Next: Faded Forces and Rising Stars

In the press conference afterwards, a jovial Joshua tried out a poor impression of Tyson Fury as he demanded a fight against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will probably get his wish, but that bout comes much too late in their professional journeys. Both men are on the downward slope of the hill.

In stark contrast, the most compelling heavyweights in the world remain the Ukrainian master and Moses Itauma. Usyk remains the undoubted king of the division, after defeating both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. At the same time, Itauma is a rapidly ascending force. The young British heavyweight likely have required fewer than half the amount of three-minute periods that Joshua required to knock Paul into a suitably wowed state.

The Defeated Fighter's Unbowed Response

But the fans gets what the public wants, and that certainly means more pitiful crossover contests. Paul appeared truly proud and cocky to have had his mandible fractured by a hammer-like right. In the early hours of the next day, he shared an radiograph, with the pair of breaks marked in crimson.

That jokey nod to the Mexican superstar, a far greater fighter than Joshua but a similarly faded force, showed that Paul's brazen audacity is undented. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly locate another opponent with whom he can earn north of $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before leaving for the hospital, Paul spat a tracer of blood onto the canvas. It was another grim symbol of the evening as Paul mangled harsh reality with blood-flecked bullshit and said: "I think my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A proper beating from one of the best to ever step in the ring. I adore this shit and I'm going to come back and keep on winning."