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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's mouth gaped agape, his eyes becoming wide, stunned circles as he sank to the canvas in shock and awe following a pulverising right hand from the former champion. It looked as if Paul was trying to say "Wow!" as the severity of the impact registered to his scrambled senses.

"The audience didn't spend money to see this garbage," said the referee, summing up the sorry affair far more effectively than anyone else could.

Pinned in a neutral 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 fractured his mandible in two separate places, Paul was caught in an completely dazed moment.

So that is what it feels, and looks, to be struck cleanly by a genuine boxer, an Olympic champion and former world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is indeed the word.

It was the fourth time the social media star had been knocked down, but the consequences of a proper power shot ensured Paul would not be able to rise and taunt his opponent before the official called the charade over. As blood began to trickle from his lips, and a dull ache spread through his jawbone, Paul finally grasped how hard, exhausting, and dangerous boxing is at a respectable level of competition.

A Far From Impressive Win for the Victor

Anthony Joshua, it must be noted, was far from convincing during the bedlam. After his hollow victory, he performed a throat-slitting gesture that hinted at a clinical and deadly execution when, in truth, Joshua had appeared exasperated for the majority of the contest. Rather than exuding intimidation or displaying an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had seemed hesitant and awkward for almost five stanzas.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a basic essential in top-level boxing, shaped the result. Lacking the stamina to flee any more, and resorting to slipping to the deck as frequently as he could for a breather, Paul was left defenseless by exhaustion. Joshua applied the brutal finish, but, until then, he had looked like a mournful imitation of the boxer he was in 2017.

Joshua's Aftermath Assessment

"It wasn't the finest display," Joshua admitted. "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 thoughts. It took a bit longer than expected, but the straight right finally found its destination."

Joshua commended Paul's courage but he added an excuse for his own labored showing. "He came up against a genuine competitor tonight that's had a 15-month hiatus," Joshua said, mentioning his last defeat. "We shook off the cobwebs, and I can't wait to head into 2026."

What Comes Next: Faded Forces and New Talent

In the press conference that followed, a jovial Joshua tried out a poor imitation of his domestic rival as he called for a fight against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will probably have his way, but that bout comes much too late in their professional journeys. Both men are on the downward slope of the hill.

In stark contrast, the most interesting heavyweights in the world are the Ukrainian master and Moses Itauma. Usyk remains the undoubted king of the weight class, after defeating both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. At the same time, Itauma is a rising talent. The young British heavyweight likely have required less than half the number of three-minute periods that Joshua required to send Paul into a appropriately astonished state.

Paul's Defiant Reaction

But the fans receives what the public desires, and that certainly means more pitiful crossover contests. Paul seemed genuinely proud and brash to have had his jaw broken by a sledgehammer right. In the early hours of Saturday morning, he posted an radiograph, with the pair of breaks highlighted in red.

That jokey nod to the Mexican superstar, a far greater boxer than Joshua but a equally faded force, demonstrated that Paul's comic chutzpah is undented. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly locate someone else with whom he can earn north of $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before leaving for the medical facility, Paul expelled a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was one more bleak symbol of the night as Paul mixed blunt truth with gory bravado and said: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A proper ass-whipping from one of the greatest to ever step in the ring. I adore this shit and I'm going to return and continue winning."