🔗 Share this article

The YouTuber-turned-fighter's mouth gaped wide open, his expression turning to wide, stunned circles as he sank to the mat in stunned disbelief following a devastating right hand from the former champion. It appeared as if Paul was attempting to say "Wow!" as the force of the blow registered to his scrambled senses.

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

Trapped in a neutral corner of the ring midway through 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 shot that broke his jaw in two distinct locations, Paul was lost in an utterly stunned moment.

So this is how it feels, and appears, to be struck cleanly by a genuine boxer, an Olympic gold medallist and former world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is indeed the word.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been knocked down, but the consequences of a proper punch meant Paul would not be able to get up and taunt his opponent before the referee waved the contest over. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a dull ache spread through his jawbone, Paul at last understood how hard, exhausting, and perilous boxing is at a respectable standard of competition.

A Far From Impressive Victory for the Victor

Joshua, it should be stressed, was not impressive amid the bedlam. After his empty victory, he made a cut-throat motion that hinted at a clinical and deadly finish when, in truth, Joshua had appeared exasperated for most of the contest. Rather than glowering with menace or displaying an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had seemed hesitant and crude for nearly five rounds.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a fundamental requirement in elite boxing, dictated the outcome. Lacking the stamina to flee any more, and reduced to slipping to the canvas as frequently as he could for a rest, Paul was rendered defenseless by exhaustion. Joshua delivered the brutal ending, but, until then, he had seemed a sad shadow of the boxer he was in 2017.

Joshua's Aftermath Assessment

"It wasn't the finest performance," Joshua admitted. "The objective was to catch Jake Paul, pin him down and hurt him. That has been the plan, and that's what was on my thoughts. It took a bit longer than anticipated, but the right hand eventually reached its destination."

Joshua praised Paul's bravery but he offered an excuse for his own stilted performance. "He came up against a genuine competitor tonight that's had a 15-month layoff," Joshua said, mentioning his previous loss. "We dusted off the rust, and I am eager to head into 2026."

The Future: Faded Forces and New Talent

In the press conference afterwards, a jovial Joshua attempted a woeful imitation of Tyson Fury as he called for a fight against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will likely get his wish, but that bout comes much too late in their careers. Both fighters are on the far side of the hill.

In contrast, the most interesting big men in the world are Oleksandr Usyk and Moses Itauma. Usyk is still the unquestioned ruler of the weight class, after defeating both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. At the same time, Itauma is a rapidly ascending talent. The young British heavyweight likely have needed less than half the amount of three-minute periods that Joshua needed to knock Paul into a appropriately astonished stupor.

The Defeated Fighter's Unbowed Reaction

But the fans receives what the public desires, and that certainly means more low-quality crossover fights. Paul seemed truly satisfied and brash to have had his jaw broken by a sledgehammer right. In the wee hours of Saturday morning, he shared an radiograph, with the pair of breaks highlighted in crimson.

That lighthearted nod to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a much superior fighter than Joshua but a equally diminished force, showed that Paul's comic chutzpah is undented. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly locate another opponent with whom he can earn north of $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before leaving for the medical facility, Paul spat a streak of blood onto the canvas. It was another bleak summary of the night as Paul mangled harsh reality with gory bravado and stated: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A nice little ass-whipping from one of the greatest to ever step in the ring. I adore this shit and I'm going to come back and continue winning."