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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's mouth gaped wide open, his expression turning to huge glazed saucers as he sank to the canvas in stunned disbelief following a devastating right hand from the former champion. It looked as if Paul was trying to utter "Wow!" as the severity of the blow sank in to his rattled senses.

"The fans didn't pay to see this crap," said the referee, encapsulating the sorry spectacle much more succinctly than any observer else could.

Trapped in a corner of the ring midway through 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 tried to absorb the punch that fractured his mandible in two distinct locations, Paul was lost in an completely dazed moment.

So this is how it feels, and looks, to be struck cleanly by a genuine boxer, an Olympic champion and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is indeed the word.

It was the fourth time the social media star had been sent to the floor, but the result of a proper punch ensured Paul could not get up and waggle his tongue defiantly before the official called the contest to a halt. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a dull ache spread through his jaw, Paul at last grasped how hard, exhausting, and perilous boxing is at a decent standard of professionalism.

A Far From Commanding 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 suggested a precise and deadly finish when, in reality, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for the majority of the fight. Rather than exuding intimidation or exhibiting an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had appeared tentative and crude for almost five stanzas.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a basic essential in top-level boxing, dictated the outcome. Lacking the stamina to escape any longer, and resorting to slipping to the deck as often as he could for a rest, Paul was rendered helpless by exhaustion. Joshua delivered the vicious ending, but, until then, he had seemed a mournful shadow of the boxer he had been in 2017.

Joshua's Post-Fight Comments

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

Joshua praised Paul's bravery but he added an explanation for his own stilted performance. "He faced a real fighter tonight that's had a 15-month layoff," Joshua said, mentioning his previous loss. "We shook off the rust, and I can't wait to roll into 2026."

What Comes Next: Past Their Prime and New Talent

In the post-fight interview afterwards, a jovial Joshua tried out a woeful imitation of Tyson Fury as he demanded a fight against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will likely get his wish, but that matchup comes much too late in their careers. Both fighters are on the downward slope of the hill.

In contrast, the most interesting heavyweights in the world are Oleksandr Usyk and the British prospect. Usyk is still the undoubted king of the weight class, after defeating both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rising force. The young British heavyweight likely have required less than half the amount of three-minute periods that Joshua required to knock Paul into a suitably astonished stupor.

The Defeated Fighter's Unbowed Response

But the fans receives what the public wants, and that certainly means more pitiful celebrity contests. Paul appeared truly satisfied and brash to have had his jaw broken by a sledgehammer right. In the wee hours of Saturday morning, he posted an radiograph, with the pair of breaks highlighted in red.

That lighthearted reference to the Mexican superstar, a much superior boxer than Joshua but a equally diminished force, demonstrated that Paul's comic chutzpah remains unbroken. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will soon locate another opponent with whom he can make north of $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before departing to the medical facility, Paul expelled a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was one more grim summary of the evening as Paul mixed harsh reality with gory bravado and stated: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A proper ass-whipping from one of the best to ever do it. I adore this sport and I'm going to return and continue winning."