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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 devastating right hand from Anthony Joshua. It looked as if Paul was trying to utter "Wow!" as the severity of the impact registered to his scrambled senses.

"The fans didn't pay to see this garbage," said the referee, encapsulating the dismal 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 cling to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the gravity of boxing enveloped him. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the punch that broke his jaw in two separate places, Paul was lost in an completely dazed moment.

So this is how it feels, and appears, to be struck cleanly by a real boxer, an Olympic gold medallist and ex- 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 clean punch meant Paul could not get up and waggle his tongue defiantly before the referee called the charade to a halt. As blood began to trickle from his mouth, and a numbing throb radiated through his jawbone, Paul finally understood how difficult, grueling, and dangerous boxing is at a decent standard of professionalism.

A Far From Commanding Win for Joshua

Anthony Joshua, it must be noted, was far from convincing amid the bedlam. After his hollow victory, he performed a throat-slitting gesture that suggested a clinical and lethal finish when, in reality, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for most of the contest. Instead of glowering with menace or displaying an iron certainty, Joshua had appeared hesitant and crude for almost five rounds.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a basic essential in elite boxing, shaped the outcome. Without the gas to flee any longer, and reduced to slipping to the deck as frequently as he could for a breather, Paul was left defenseless by exhaustion. Joshua applied the vicious finish, but, until then, he had seemed a sad shadow of the boxer he had been in 2017.

The Winner's Post-Fight Comments

"That was not the best performance," Joshua conceded. "The objective was to get Jake Paul, pin him down and hurt him. 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 finally found its destination."

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

What Comes Next: Faded Forces and Rising Stars

In the press conference that followed, a jovial Joshua tried out a woeful impression of his domestic rival as he called for a fight against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will probably get his wish, but that matchup comes far too late in their professional journeys. Both men are on the far side of the hill.

In stark contrast, the most interesting big men in the world remain the Ukrainian master and the British prospect. Usyk remains the undoubted ruler of the division, after defeating both Joshua and Fury twice. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rapidly ascending talent. The youthful British heavyweight would probably have required less than half the amount of three-minute periods that Joshua needed to knock Paul into a appropriately wowed state.

Paul's Unbowed Reaction

But the fans receives what the public wants, and that undoubtedly means more low-quality crossover contests. Paul appeared genuinely satisfied and brash to have had his jaw broken by a hammer-like right. In the wee hours of Saturday morning, he posted an X-ray, with the two fractures highlighted in red.

That jokey reference to the Mexican superstar, a far greater fighter than Joshua but a equally diminished force, showed that Paul's brazen audacity remains undented. It might 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 spat a streak of blood onto the canvas. It was another bleak symbol of the night as Paul mangled blunt truth with blood-flecked bravado and said: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A nice little beating from one of the best to ever step in the ring. I love this shit and I'm going to come back and keep on winning."