🔗 Share this article

The YouTuber-turned-fighter's mouth gaped agape, his expression turning to huge glazed saucers as he collapsed to the canvas in shock and awe following a pulverising right hand from the former champion. It looked as if Paul was attempting to say "Whoa!" as the force of the blow registered to his rattled senses.

"The fans didn't pay to see this crap," said the referee, summing up the dismal spectacle much more succinctly than any observer else managed to.

Trapped 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 in a desperate clinch as the serious reality of boxing became clear. Instead, as he tried to absorb the punch that broke his jaw in two separate places, Paul was lost in an completely stunned moment.

So that is what it feels, and appears, to be hit hard by a real professional fighter, an Olympic champion and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is certainly the word.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been knocked down, but the consequences of a proper punch ensured Paul would not be able to get up and taunt his opponent before the official waved the charade over. As blood began to trickle from his lips, and a numbing throb spread through his jawbone, Paul at last grasped how difficult, grueling, and dangerous boxing is at a respectable standard of competition.

An Unimpressive Commanding Victory for Joshua

Anthony Joshua, it must be noted, was not impressive amid the chaos. After his hollow victory, he performed a cut-throat motion that suggested a clinical and lethal execution when, in reality, Joshua had appeared exasperated for the majority of the fight. Rather than glowering with menace or exhibiting an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had seemed hesitant and awkward for almost five stanzas.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a fundamental requirement in top-level boxing, dictated the result. Lacking the stamina to flee any more, and reduced to falling to the deck as often as he could for a rest, Paul was left defenseless by fatigue. Joshua delivered the brutal finish, but, until then, he had looked like a sad shadow of the fighter he had been in 2017.

The Winner's Post-Fight Comments

"That was not the best display," Joshua admitted. "The end goal was to get Jake Paul, corner him and hurt him. That has been the plan, and that's what was on my mind. It took a little more time than anticipated, but the straight right eventually found its target."

Joshua commended Paul's courage but he offered an excuse for his own labored performance. "He came up against a real fighter tonight that's had a 15-month layoff," Joshua said, referencing his previous defeat. "We shook off the cobwebs, and I am eager to roll into 2026."

The Future: Faded Forces and Rising Stars

In the press conference that followed, a cheerful Joshua attempted a woeful imitation of Tyson Fury as he demanded a fight against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will probably have his way, but that matchup comes far too late in their professional journeys. Both fighters are on the downward slope of the peak.

In stark contrast, the most compelling heavyweights in the world remain Oleksandr Usyk and Moses Itauma. Usyk is still the unquestioned king of the weight class, after defeating both Joshua and Fury twice. At the same time, Itauma is a rapidly ascending talent. 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 astonished state.

The Defeated Fighter's Defiant Response

But the public gets what the public desires, and that undoubtedly means more low-quality crossover fights. Paul seemed genuinely proud and brash to have had his jaw broken by a sledgehammer right. In the wee hours of the next day, he posted an X-ray, with the two fractures highlighted in red.

That jokey nod to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a far greater fighter than Joshua but a equally faded presence, showed that Paul's brazen audacity remains unbroken. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly find someone else with whom he can earn more than $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before leaving for the hospital, Paul spat a streak of blood onto the ring floor. It was another bleak symbol of the evening as Paul mangled blunt truth with blood-flecked bullshit and stated: "I think my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A nice little ass-whipping from one of the best to ever do it. I love this shit and I'm going to return and continue winning."