🔗 Share this article

The YouTuber-turned-fighter's jaw dropped wide open, his expression turning to wide, stunned circles as he sank to the canvas in stunned disbelief following a devastating right hand from the former champion. It appeared as if Paul was trying to utter "Whoa!" as the severity of the impact registered to his scrambled senses.

"Those watching didn't spend money to see this crap," snapped the referee, summing up the dismal affair far more effectively than anyone else managed to.

Trapped in a neutral corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could no longer retreat or cling to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the serious reality of boxing became clear. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the shot that broke his jaw in two separate places, Paul was caught in an completely dazed moment.

So that is what it feels, and appears, to be hit hard by a genuine professional fighter, an Olympic champion and former world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is indeed the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the social media star had been knocked down, 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 trickle from his mouth, and a dull ache spread through his jawbone, Paul at last understood how hard, grueling, and dangerous boxing is at a respectable standard of competition.

A Far From Commanding Victory for the Victor

Joshua, it should be stressed, was far from convincing amid the chaos. After his empty victory, he performed a throat-slitting gesture that suggested a clinical and lethal finish when, in truth, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for most of the fight. Rather than exuding intimidation or exhibiting an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had appeared tentative and awkward for nearly five rounds.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a basic essential in top-level boxing, dictated the outcome. Lacking the stamina to escape any more, and reduced to falling to the canvas as often as he could for a breather, Paul was rendered helpless by fatigue. Joshua applied the vicious ending, but, up to that point, he had seemed a sad shadow of the fighter he was in 2017.

The Winner's Aftermath Assessment

"That was not the finest display," Joshua conceded. "The end goal 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 bit longer than anticipated, but the straight right finally found its target."

Joshua praised Paul's bravery but he offered an excuse for his own labored performance. "He faced a real fighter tonight that's had a fifteen-month layoff," Joshua said, referencing his previous loss. "We shook off the rust, and I am eager to roll into 2026."

The Future: Faded Forces and Rising Stars

In the post-fight interview that followed, a cheerful Joshua tried out a poor impression of Tyson Fury as he called for a fight against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will likely get his wish, but that bout comes far too late in their professional journeys. Both fighters are on the downward slope of the peak.

In contrast, the most interesting big men in the world remain Oleksandr Usyk and Moses Itauma. Usyk remains the unquestioned ruler of the weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rising force. The youthful British heavyweight likely have required less than half the amount of rounds that Joshua needed to send Paul into a appropriately astonished stupor.

Paul's Defiant Response

But the public receives what the public wants, and that undoubtedly means additional pitiful celebrity contests. Paul appeared genuinely proud and cocky to have had his jaw broken by a sledgehammer right. In the wee hours of the next day, he posted an radiograph, with the pair of breaks highlighted in red.

That lighthearted reference to the Mexican superstar, a much superior boxer than Joshua but a equally diminished presence, showed that Paul's comic chutzpah is undented. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly find someone else with whom he can earn north of $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before departing to the medical facility, Paul expelled a streak of blood onto the ring floor. It was one more bleak symbol of the evening as Paul mixed blunt truth with gory bravado and stated: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A proper ass-whipping from one of the best to ever step in the ring. I love this shit and I'm going to come back and continue winning."