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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's mouth gaped agape, his eyes becoming huge glazed saucers as he collapsed to the canvas in stunned disbelief after a devastating right hand from the former champion. It appeared as if Paul was trying to say "Whoa!" as the force of the impact sank in to his scrambled senses.

"Those watching didn't spend money to see this rubbish," snapped the referee, encapsulating the sorry affair far more effectively than anyone else could.

Pinned in a corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could not retreat or hold on to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the serious reality of boxing enveloped him. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the punch that fractured his mandible in two separate places, Paul was lost in an completely stunned moment.

So that is what it is like, and looks, to be struck cleanly by a real professional fighter, an Olympic gold medallist and former 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 consequences of a clean punch ensured Paul could not rise and waggle his tongue defiantly before the referee waved the contest over. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a dull ache radiated through his jaw, Paul at last understood how difficult, exhausting, and perilous boxing is at a respectable standard of competition.

An Unimpressive Commanding Victory for Joshua

Joshua, it should be stressed, was far from convincing during the chaos. After his hollow victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that suggested a precise and lethal finish when, in reality, Joshua had appeared exasperated for the majority of the fight. Instead of glowering with menace or exhibiting an iron certainty, Joshua had appeared tentative and crude for nearly five stanzas.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a basic essential in elite boxing, shaped the result. Without the gas to escape any longer, and resorting to slipping to the deck as frequently as he could for a breather, Paul was left defenseless by fatigue. Joshua delivered the vicious finish, but, up to that point, he had looked like a mournful imitation of the boxer he was in 2017.

Joshua's Aftermath Assessment

"It wasn't the finest performance," Joshua admitted. "The end goal was to catch 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 expected, but the right hand finally found its target."

Joshua commended Paul's courage but he added an excuse for his own stilted showing. "He came up against a genuine competitor tonight that's had a 15-month layoff," Joshua said, mentioning his last defeat. "We dusted off the rust, and I can't wait to roll into 2026."

What Comes Next: Faded Forces and Rising Stars

In the post-fight interview that followed, a jovial Joshua tried out a poor impression of Tyson Fury as he called for a scrap against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will probably get his wish, but that matchup comes far too late in their careers. Both men are on the far side of the peak.

In contrast, the most compelling big men in the world are Oleksandr Usyk and the British prospect. Usyk is still the undoubted ruler of the division, having beaten both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rising talent. The young British heavyweight likely have required fewer than half the number of three-minute periods that Joshua required to send Paul into a suitably wowed stupor.

The Defeated Fighter's Unbowed Response

But the public gets what the public wants, and that undoubtedly means additional low-quality celebrity fights. Paul appeared genuinely satisfied and cocky to have had his mandible fractured by a hammer-like right. In the wee hours of the next day, he shared an X-ray, with the pair of breaks highlighted in crimson.

That lighthearted nod to the Mexican superstar, a much superior boxer than Joshua but a similarly faded presence, demonstrated that Paul's comic chutzpah is undented. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly find another opponent with whom he can make more than $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before departing to the hospital, Paul expelled a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was another grim summary of the night as Paul mangled blunt truth with gory bullshit and said: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A nice little ass-whipping from one of the greatest to ever step in the ring. I love this sport and I'm going to return and continue winning."