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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's mouth gaped wide open, his expression turning to huge glazed saucers as he collapsed to the mat in stunned disbelief after a devastating right hand from the former champion. It appeared as if Paul was trying to say "Wow!" as the severity of the impact registered to his scrambled senses.

"Those watching didn't spend money to see this garbage," snapped the referee, encapsulating the dismal affair far more succinctly than anyone else could.

Trapped in a neutral corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could no longer retreat or cling to Joshua's legs like a forlorn little boy as the serious reality of the sweet science became clear. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the punch that broke his jaw in two separate places, Paul was caught in an utterly dazed moment.

So that is what it is like, and appears, to be hit hard by a real boxer, an Olympic gold medallist and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is certainly the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been knocked down, but the consequences of a clean power shot meant Paul would not be able to get up and taunt his opponent before the referee waved the contest over. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a numbing throb spread through his jaw, Paul at last grasped how hard, grueling, and perilous boxing is at a decent level of professionalism.

A Far From Impressive Win for Joshua

Joshua, it should be stressed, was far from convincing amid the bedlam. After his empty victory, he performed a throat-slitting gesture that hinted at a clinical and deadly execution when, in truth, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for the majority of the contest. Instead of glowering with menace or exhibiting an iron certainty, Joshua had seemed tentative and crude for nearly five rounds.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a basic essential in elite boxing, dictated the outcome. Lacking the stamina to flee any more, and resorting to falling to the canvas as frequently as he could for a breather, Paul was rendered defenseless by fatigue. Joshua delivered the brutal ending, but, until then, he had looked like a sad shadow of the boxer he was in 2017.

The Winner's Aftermath Assessment

"That was not the finest performance," Joshua admitted. "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 thoughts. It took a little more time than anticipated, but the straight right finally found its target."

Joshua praised Paul's courage but he offered an explanation for his own stilted performance. "He faced a genuine competitor tonight that's had a 15-month hiatus," Joshua said, referencing his previous defeat. "We dusted off the rust, and I can't wait to roll into 2026."

What Comes Next: Faded Forces and New Talent

In the press conference that followed, a jovial Joshua tried out a woeful impression of Tyson Fury as he called for a fight against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will likely have his way, but that matchup comes much too late in their professional journeys. Both men are on the downward slope of the peak.

In contrast, the most interesting heavyweights in the world remain Oleksandr Usyk and the British prospect. Usyk is still the undoubted ruler of the division, after defeating both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. At the same time, Itauma is a rapidly ascending talent. The youthful British heavyweight likely have required less than half the number of rounds that Joshua needed to send Paul into a appropriately astonished state.

Paul's Defiant Response

But the fans receives what the public wants, and that undoubtedly means more pitiful celebrity contests. Paul appeared genuinely satisfied and brash to have had his mandible fractured by a sledgehammer right. In the wee hours of Saturday morning, he posted an radiograph, with the pair of breaks marked in crimson.

That jokey reference to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a far greater fighter than Joshua but a similarly diminished presence, demonstrated that Paul's comic chutzpah remains undented. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly find another opponent with whom he can make north of $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before departing to the hospital, Paul spat a tracer of blood onto the canvas. It was another grim summary of the evening as Paul mixed blunt truth with gory bullshit and stated: "I think my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A proper ass-whipping from one of the best to ever step in the ring. I adore this sport and I'm going to come back and continue winning."