🔗 Share this article

The YouTuber-turned-fighter's mouth gaped agape, his eyes becoming 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 sank in to his rattled senses.

"The audience didn't pay to see this rubbish," snapped the referee, encapsulating the sorry spectacle much more succinctly than anyone else managed to.

Trapped in a neutral corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could not retreat or cling to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the serious reality of the sweet science enveloped him. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the shot that fractured his mandible in two distinct locations, Paul was lost in an completely stunned moment.

So this is how it feels, and looks, to be hit hard by a real boxer, an Olympic gold medallist and former world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is indeed the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been sent to the floor, but the consequences of a proper punch ensured Paul would not be able to rise and taunt his opponent before the official called the contest over. As blood began to leak from his lips, and a dull ache radiated through his jawbone, Paul at last grasped how hard, exhausting, and dangerous boxing is at a decent standard of competition.

A Far From Impressive Win for Joshua

Anthony Joshua, it must be noted, was not impressive during the bedlam. After his empty victory, he made a cut-throat motion that hinted at a clinical and lethal finish when, in truth, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for the majority of the fight. Instead of glowering with menace or displaying 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, shaped the outcome. Without the gas to flee any longer, and reduced to slipping to the deck as often as he could for a breather, Paul was left helpless by exhaustion. Joshua applied the brutal finish, but, until then, he had seemed a mournful shadow of the fighter he was in 2017.

Joshua's Post-Fight Assessment

"It wasn't the finest performance," Joshua conceded. "The objective was to get Jake Paul, pin him down and do damage. That has been the plan, and that's what was on my mind. It took a little more time than anticipated, but the right hand eventually reached its target."

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

What Comes Next: Faded Forces and New Talent

In the press conference afterwards, a jovial Joshua tried out a poor impression of his domestic rival as he called for a fight against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will probably have his way, but that bout comes much too late in their careers. Both men are on the far side of the peak.

In stark contrast, the most compelling big men in the world remain Oleksandr Usyk and the British prospect. Usyk remains the undoubted ruler of the division, after defeating both Joshua and Fury twice. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rising talent. The youthful British heavyweight likely have required fewer than half the amount of rounds that Joshua needed to send Paul into a suitably wowed state.

The Defeated Fighter's Defiant Response

But the public gets what the public wants, and that certainly means more pitiful celebrity contests. Paul appeared genuinely satisfied and brash to have had his jaw broken by a sledgehammer right. In the early hours of Saturday morning, he shared an X-ray, with the pair of breaks marked in red.

That jokey reference to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a far greater fighter than Joshua but a similarly faded presence, showed that Paul's brazen audacity is unbroken. It may 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 departing to the hospital, Paul spat a tracer of blood onto the canvas. It was another grim symbol of the evening as Paul mixed blunt truth with blood-flecked bullshit and said: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A proper beating from one of the greatest to ever step in the ring. I love this sport and I'm going to return and continue winning."