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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's jaw dropped agape, his eyes becoming huge glazed saucers as he collapsed to the canvas in shock and awe following a devastating right hand from the former champion. It looked as if Paul was attempting to utter "Wow!" as the force of the impact registered to his rattled senses.

"The fans didn't spend money to see this crap," snapped the referee, encapsulating the sorry spectacle far more effectively than anyone else could.

Pinned in a corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could no longer retreat or hold on to Joshua's legs like a forlorn little boy as the gravity of the sweet science enveloped him. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the punch that broke his jaw in two distinct locations, Paul was lost in an utterly stunned moment.

So this is how it feels, and looks, to be hit hard by a real 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 punch meant Paul could not get up and taunt his opponent before the official waved the charade to a halt. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a dull ache spread through his jaw, Paul finally grasped how difficult, grueling, and dangerous boxing is at a respectable level of competition.

A Far From Commanding Victory for the Victor

Joshua, it should be stressed, was far from convincing amid the chaos. After his hollow victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that hinted at a precise and lethal finish when, in reality, Joshua had appeared exasperated for the majority of the fight. Instead of glowering with menace or displaying an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had appeared hesitant and crude for almost five rounds.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a basic essential in top-level boxing, dictated the result. Without the gas to escape any longer, and reduced to falling to the canvas as frequently as he could for a rest, Paul was left helpless by fatigue. Joshua delivered the vicious ending, but, until then, he had looked like a sad shadow of the boxer he was in 2017.

The Winner's Aftermath Assessment

"It wasn't the best performance," Joshua admitted. "The end goal was to get Jake Paul, pin him down and hurt him. That has been the request, and that's what was on my thoughts. It took a bit longer than anticipated, but the straight right eventually found its target."

Joshua praised Paul's bravery but he added an explanation for his own labored performance. "He came up against a real fighter tonight that's had a 15-month hiatus," Joshua said, mentioning his previous defeat. "We shook off the cobwebs, and I am eager to roll into 2026."

What Comes Next: Faded Forces and New Talent

In the press conference afterwards, a jovial Joshua attempted a woeful impression of Tyson Fury as he demanded a scrap against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will likely have his way, but that matchup comes far too late in their careers. Both men are on the downward slope of the hill.

In stark contrast, the most interesting heavyweights in the world are the Ukrainian master and Moses Itauma. Usyk remains the unquestioned king of the weight class, after defeating both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rapidly ascending talent. The youthful British heavyweight would probably have required fewer than half the amount of three-minute periods that Joshua needed to send Paul into a suitably wowed state.

The Defeated Fighter's Unbowed Reaction

But the fans gets what the public wants, and that undoubtedly means more pitiful crossover contests. Paul appeared genuinely proud and brash to have had his mandible fractured by a hammer-like right. In the early hours of the next day, he shared an X-ray, with the two fractures marked in crimson.

That lighthearted nod to the Mexican superstar, a far greater fighter than Joshua but a equally faded force, showed that Paul's brazen audacity remains unbroken. It might 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 leaving for the hospital, Paul spat a tracer of blood onto the canvas. It was one more bleak summary of the evening as Paul mangled harsh reality with blood-flecked bravado and said: "I think my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A nice little beating from one of the greatest to ever do it. I love this sport and I'm going to return and keep on winning."