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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's mouth gaped wide open, his eyes becoming wide, stunned circles as he collapsed to the mat in shock and awe following a pulverising right hand from Anthony Joshua. It looked as if Paul was attempting to utter "Wow!" as the severity of the impact registered to his rattled senses.

"Those watching didn't spend money to see this garbage," snapped the referee, encapsulating the sorry spectacle much more effectively than any observer else managed to.

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 shot that broke his jaw in two separate places, Paul was lost in an completely stunned moment.

So this is how it feels, and looks, to be hit hard by a genuine boxer, an Olympic gold medallist and ex- 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 would not be able to get up and waggle his tongue defiantly before the official waved the contest over. As blood began to leak from his lips, and a dull ache spread through his jawbone, Paul finally understood how difficult, exhausting, and perilous boxing is at a decent level of competition.

An Unimpressive Commanding Victory for the Victor

Anthony Joshua, it should be stressed, was not impressive during the bedlam. After his hollow victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that hinted at a clinical and deadly execution when, in reality, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for most of the fight. Rather than exuding intimidation or displaying an iron certainty, Joshua had appeared hesitant and crude for nearly five rounds.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a basic essential in top-level boxing, shaped the outcome. Without the gas to escape any longer, and resorting to falling to the deck as often as he could for a breather, Paul was rendered defenseless by exhaustion. Joshua applied the brutal ending, but, until then, he had seemed a sad shadow of the fighter he had been in 2017.

Joshua's Aftermath Assessment

"It wasn't the best display," Joshua admitted. "The end goal 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 expected, but the right hand eventually reached its destination."

Joshua commended Paul's bravery but he offered an explanation for his own stilted performance. "He faced a real fighter tonight that's had a 15-month hiatus," Joshua said, mentioning his last loss. "We shook off the cobwebs, and I am eager to roll into 2026."

What Comes Next: Faded Forces and Rising Stars

In the post-fight interview that followed, a jovial Joshua tried out a poor impression of his domestic rival as he demanded a fight against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will probably get his wish, but that matchup comes much too late in their professional journeys. Both men are on the far side of the hill.

In contrast, the most compelling big men in the world remain Oleksandr Usyk and Moses Itauma. Usyk remains the undoubted king of the weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury twice. At the same time, Itauma is a rapidly ascending force. The youthful British heavyweight likely have required less than half the amount of rounds that Joshua needed to send Paul into a appropriately wowed stupor.

Paul's Defiant Reaction

But the fans gets what the public desires, and that certainly means more pitiful celebrity fights. Paul appeared genuinely proud and brash to have had his jaw broken by a sledgehammer right. In the early hours of the next day, he posted an radiograph, with the two fractures marked in crimson.

That lighthearted reference to the Mexican superstar, a much superior fighter than Joshua but a similarly diminished force, showed that Paul's comic chutzpah is unbroken. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly locate another opponent with whom he can earn north of $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before leaving for the medical facility, Paul expelled a streak of blood onto the canvas. It was one more grim symbol of the night as Paul mixed harsh reality with gory bravado and said: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A proper beating from one of the greatest to ever step in the ring. I love this shit and I'm going to return and continue winning."