🔗 Share this article

The YouTuber-turned-fighter's jaw dropped wide open, his eyes becoming huge glazed saucers as he collapsed to the canvas in stunned disbelief after a pulverising right hand from the former champion. It appeared as if Paul was attempting to utter "Whoa!" as the force of the impact sank in to his rattled senses.

"The audience didn't spend money to see this garbage," snapped the referee, encapsulating the dismal spectacle much more succinctly than anyone else could.

Trapped in a corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could no longer run or hold on to Joshua's legs like a forlorn little boy as the serious reality of boxing enveloped him. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the punch that broke his jaw in two distinct locations, Paul was caught in an completely dazed moment.

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

It was the fourth time the social media star had been sent to the floor, but the consequences of a clean punch meant Paul could not rise and waggle his tongue defiantly before the referee called the contest to a halt. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a dull ache spread through his jaw, Paul finally grasped how difficult, exhausting, and dangerous boxing is at a decent level of professionalism.

An Unimpressive Impressive Win for Joshua

Anthony Joshua, it should be stressed, was far from convincing amid the bedlam. After his empty victory, he performed a throat-slitting gesture that suggested a clinical and deadly execution when, in truth, Joshua had appeared exasperated for most of the contest. Rather than glowering with menace or displaying an iron certainty, Joshua had seemed tentative and crude for nearly five stanzas.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a basic essential in elite boxing, shaped 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 rendered defenseless by fatigue. Joshua delivered the vicious finish, but, until then, he had looked like a sad imitation of the boxer he was in 2017.

The Winner's Post-Fight Assessment

"That was not the best performance," Joshua conceded. "The objective was to catch Jake Paul, pin him down and do damage. That has been the request, and that's what was on my mind. It took a little more time than anticipated, but the right hand eventually found its target."

Joshua praised Paul's courage but he added an explanation for his own labored showing. "He came up against a genuine competitor tonight that's had a fifteen-month hiatus," Joshua said, mentioning his last defeat. "We dusted off the rust, and I am eager to head into 2026."

The Future: Past Their Prime and Rising Stars

In the press conference that followed, a jovial Joshua attempted a woeful impression of his domestic rival as he called for 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 hill.

In stark contrast, the most interesting heavyweights in the world are the Ukrainian master and the British prospect. Usyk is still the unquestioned king of the weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury twice. At the same time, Itauma is a rising talent. The youthful British heavyweight likely have needed less than half the amount of rounds that Joshua required to knock Paul into a appropriately wowed stupor.

The Defeated Fighter's Defiant Reaction

But the fans receives what the public desires, and that certainly means additional pitiful celebrity fights. Paul seemed truly satisfied and cocky to have had his mandible fractured by a sledgehammer right. In the early hours of Saturday morning, he posted an radiograph, with the pair of breaks marked in crimson.

That jokey reference to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a far greater boxer than Joshua but a similarly diminished presence, demonstrated that Paul's brazen audacity remains undented. 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 expelled a streak of blood onto the canvas. It was one more grim summary of the night as Paul mixed blunt truth with gory bullshit and stated: "I think my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A nice little beating from one of the greatest to ever do it. I adore this shit and I'm going to return and continue winning."