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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's jaw dropped wide open, his eyes becoming huge glazed saucers as he collapsed to the mat in shock and awe after a devastating right hand from Anthony Joshua. It appeared as if Paul was trying to utter "Wow!" as the severity of the blow registered to his rattled senses.

"Those watching didn't pay to see this rubbish," snapped the referee, encapsulating the sorry affair much more effectively than any observer else managed to.

Trapped in a corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could no longer run or hold on to Joshua's legs like a forlorn little boy as the gravity of boxing became clear. Instead, as he tried to absorb the shot that fractured his mandible in two separate places, Paul was caught in an utterly stunned moment.

So this is how it feels, and looks, to be struck cleanly by a real boxer, an Olympic gold medallist 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 power shot ensured Paul could not get up and taunt his opponent before the official waved the charade to a halt. As blood began to trickle from his mouth, and a dull ache spread through his jawbone, Paul at last grasped how hard, exhausting, and perilous boxing is at a decent level of competition.

A Far From Impressive Win for the Victor

Joshua, it should be stressed, was far from convincing amid the bedlam. After his empty victory, he performed a cut-throat motion that suggested a clinical and lethal finish when, in reality, Joshua had appeared exasperated for most of the contest. Instead of glowering with menace or displaying an iron certainty, Joshua had appeared hesitant and crude for almost five stanzas.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a fundamental requirement in elite boxing, shaped the outcome. Without the gas to flee any more, and reduced to falling to the canvas as frequently as he could for a rest, Paul was rendered defenseless by fatigue. Joshua applied the brutal finish, but, until then, he had looked like a sad imitation of the boxer he had been in 2017.

Joshua's Aftermath Comments

"That was not the best performance," Joshua conceded. "The end goal was to catch Jake Paul, corner him 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 eventually found its target."

Joshua praised Paul's courage but he offered an explanation for his own stilted showing. "He came up against a real fighter tonight that's had a 15-month layoff," Joshua said, mentioning his previous loss. "We dusted off the cobwebs, and I am eager to head into 2026."

What Comes Next: Faded Forces and Rising Stars

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

In contrast, the most interesting big men in the world are the Ukrainian master and the British prospect. Usyk is still the unquestioned ruler of the weight class, after defeating both Joshua and Fury twice. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rising talent. The youthful British heavyweight likely have required fewer than half the number of rounds that Joshua needed to knock Paul into a appropriately wowed state.

Paul's Defiant Reaction

But the public gets what the public wants, and that certainly means more pitiful celebrity contests. Paul appeared truly proud and brash to have had his mandible fractured by a sledgehammer right. In the early hours of Saturday morning, he shared an radiograph, with the two fractures marked in crimson.

That jokey reference to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a much superior boxer than Joshua but a equally faded presence, demonstrated that Paul's comic chutzpah remains unbroken. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will soon locate someone else with whom he can make north of $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before leaving for the hospital, Paul expelled a streak of blood onto the ring floor. It was another bleak summary of the evening as Paul mangled blunt truth with gory bullshit and said: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A nice little beating from one of the best to ever do it. I love this shit and I'm going to return and continue winning."