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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's jaw dropped wide open, his eyes becoming huge glazed saucers as he sank to the canvas in stunned disbelief following a pulverising right hand from Anthony Joshua. It looked as if Paul was attempting to say "Whoa!" as the severity of the blow registered to his rattled senses.

"The audience didn't pay to see this garbage," said the referee, summing up the dismal affair much more succinctly than any observer else managed to.

Pinned 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 gravity of the sweet science enveloped him. Instead, as he tried to absorb the shot that broke his jaw in two distinct locations, Paul was lost in an completely stunned moment.

So that is what it is like, and looks, to be hit hard by a genuine professional fighter, an Olympic gold medallist and former world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is certainly the word.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been sent to the floor, but the consequences of a proper punch meant Paul could not rise and waggle his tongue defiantly before the referee waved the contest to a halt. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a numbing throb radiated through his jaw, Paul at last understood how hard, exhausting, and perilous boxing is at a decent standard of competition.

A Far From Impressive Win for Joshua

Joshua, it should be stressed, was far from convincing amid the chaos. After his empty victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that hinted at a precise and deadly execution when, in reality, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for most of the fight. Instead of 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 fundamental requirement in top-level boxing, shaped the outcome. Lacking the stamina to escape any more, and resorting to slipping to the canvas as frequently as he could for a rest, Paul was left defenseless by exhaustion. Joshua delivered the brutal ending, but, up to that point, he had seemed a sad imitation of the fighter he was in 2017.

Joshua's Post-Fight Assessment

"It wasn't the best display," Joshua conceded. "The end goal was to catch Jake Paul, pin him down and do damage. That has been the plan, and that's what was on my thoughts. It took a bit longer than expected, but the straight right eventually reached its target."

Joshua praised Paul's courage but he added an explanation for his own labored performance. "He came up against a real fighter tonight that's had a fifteen-month layoff," Joshua said, mentioning his last defeat. "We dusted off the cobwebs, and I can't wait to head into 2026."

What Comes Next: Past Their Prime and New Talent

In the press conference that followed, a jovial Joshua attempted a woeful 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 much too late in their careers. Both men 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 remains the unquestioned king of the weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rising talent. The youthful British heavyweight likely have needed fewer than half the amount of three-minute periods that Joshua needed to send Paul into a suitably wowed state.

The Defeated Fighter's Defiant Response

But the public receives what the public wants, and that undoubtedly means more low-quality crossover fights. 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 shared an X-ray, with the pair of breaks marked in crimson.

That jokey nod to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a far greater boxer than Joshua but a similarly faded force, showed that Paul's comic chutzpah is unbroken. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will soon locate another opponent with whom he can earn north of $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before leaving for the hospital, Paul spat a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was another grim summary of the night as Paul mangled harsh reality with blood-flecked bravado and said: "I think my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A proper ass-whipping from one of the greatest to ever step in the ring. I love this sport and I'm going to come back and continue winning."