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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's jaw dropped agape, his expression turning to huge glazed saucers as he sank to the mat in stunned disbelief after a devastating right hand from Anthony Joshua. It appeared as if Paul was trying to say "Whoa!" as the severity of the blow sank in to his scrambled senses.

"Those watching didn't spend money to see this crap," snapped the referee, encapsulating the dismal affair far more succinctly than any observer else could.

Trapped in a neutral corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could not run or hold on to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the serious reality of the sweet science enveloped him. Instead, as he tried to absorb the punch that broke his jaw in two distinct locations, Paul was caught in an utterly dazed moment.

So that is what it is like, and looks, to be hit hard by a genuine boxer, an Olympic champion and former world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is certainly the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the social media star had been sent to the floor, but the result of a clean punch ensured Paul could not rise and taunt his opponent before the official waved the contest to a halt. As blood began to leak from his lips, and a numbing throb spread through his jawbone, Paul at last understood how hard, exhausting, and perilous boxing is at a respectable level of competition.

A Far From Commanding Win for the Victor

Anthony Joshua, it must be noted, was far from convincing during the bedlam. After his empty victory, he performed a cut-throat motion that hinted at a precise and lethal finish when, in reality, Joshua had appeared exasperated for most of the fight. Instead of glowering with menace or exhibiting an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had seemed hesitant and awkward for nearly five stanzas.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a basic essential in top-level boxing, shaped the outcome. Without the gas to flee any more, and reduced to falling to the deck as frequently as he could for a breather, Paul was left defenseless by fatigue. Joshua applied the brutal ending, but, up to that point, he had seemed a sad shadow of the fighter he had been in 2017.

Joshua's Post-Fight Assessment

"That was not the best display," Joshua conceded. "The objective was to get Jake Paul, pin him down and hurt him. That has been the request, and that's what was on my mind. It took a bit longer than anticipated, but the right hand eventually found its destination."

Joshua praised 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 fifteen-month hiatus," Joshua said, mentioning his previous defeat. "We shook off the cobwebs, and I can't wait to roll into 2026."

What Comes Next: Faded Forces and New Talent

In the press conference afterwards, a cheerful Joshua attempted a woeful impression of Tyson Fury as he called for a fight against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will likely have his way, but that bout comes much too late in their careers. Both fighters are on the downward slope of the peak.

In stark contrast, the most interesting heavyweights in the world remain the Ukrainian master and the British prospect. Usyk remains the unquestioned ruler of the weight class, after defeating both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rising talent. The youthful British heavyweight would probably have needed less than half the number of rounds that Joshua required to knock Paul into a suitably astonished stupor.

Paul's Defiant Reaction

But the public receives what the public desires, and that undoubtedly means additional low-quality crossover fights. Paul seemed genuinely satisfied and brash to have had his jaw broken by a sledgehammer right. In the early hours of the next day, he posted an X-ray, with the pair of breaks highlighted in red.

That jokey reference to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a much superior fighter than Joshua but a equally faded force, demonstrated that Paul's brazen audacity remains unbroken. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will soon locate someone else with whom he can earn more than $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before departing to the hospital, Paul spat a streak of blood onto the canvas. It was another grim symbol of the evening as Paul mangled harsh reality with gory bravado and said: "I think my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A nice little ass-whipping from one of the greatest to ever do it. I love this shit and I'm going to return and keep on winning."