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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 shock and awe after a pulverising right hand from Anthony Joshua. It looked as if Paul was attempting to say "Wow!" as the force of the blow 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 any observer else managed to.

Trapped in a corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could not retreat or hold on to Joshua's legs like a forlorn little boy as the gravity of boxing became clear. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the punch that broke his jaw in two separate places, Paul was caught in an completely dazed moment.

So that is what it is like, and looks, to be struck cleanly by a genuine boxer, an Olympic gold medallist and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is indeed the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the social media star had been sent to the floor, but the result of a proper power shot meant Paul could not get up and waggle his tongue defiantly before the referee called the charade over. As blood began to trickle from his lips, and a dull ache radiated through his jaw, Paul at last understood how hard, exhausting, and dangerous boxing is at a respectable level of competition.

An Unimpressive Commanding Victory for the Victor

Joshua, it should be stressed, was far from convincing amid the chaos. After his empty victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that hinted at a clinical and lethal execution when, in truth, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for the majority of the fight. Instead of glowering with menace or displaying an iron certainty, Joshua had appeared tentative and awkward for nearly five stanzas.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a basic essential in elite boxing, shaped the result. Without the gas to escape any more, and reduced to falling to the deck as often as he could for a breather, Paul was left defenseless by fatigue. Joshua delivered the vicious finish, but, until then, he had seemed a mournful imitation of the fighter he was in 2017.

Joshua's Aftermath Assessment

"It wasn't the best display," Joshua conceded. "The objective was to get Jake Paul, corner him and do damage. That has been the request, and that's what was on my mind. It took a bit longer than anticipated, but the right hand eventually found its destination."

Joshua praised Paul's bravery but he added an excuse for his own stilted showing. "He faced a real fighter tonight that's had a 15-month layoff," Joshua said, referencing his last defeat. "We shook off the cobwebs, and I am eager to roll into 2026."

What Comes Next: Past Their Prime and New Talent

In the press conference that followed, a cheerful Joshua tried out a poor imitation of Tyson Fury as he called for a scrap 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 downward slope of the peak.

In contrast, the most interesting big men in the world remain the Ukrainian master and the British prospect. Usyk is still the unquestioned king of the division, having beaten both Joshua and Fury twice. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rapidly ascending force. The youthful British heavyweight likely have required fewer than half the number of three-minute periods that Joshua needed to knock Paul into a appropriately wowed state.

Paul's Unbowed Reaction

But the fans gets what the public desires, and that undoubtedly means additional low-quality celebrity contests. Paul appeared truly proud and brash to have had his mandible fractured by a sledgehammer right. In the early hours of the next day, he posted an radiograph, with the pair of breaks highlighted in red.

That lighthearted nod to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a much superior fighter than Joshua but a similarly faded force, showed that Paul's brazen audacity is undented. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly locate someone else with whom he can make north of $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before departing to the medical facility, Paul expelled a streak of blood onto the ring floor. It was another bleak symbol of the evening as Paul mangled harsh reality with gory bravado and stated: "I think my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A nice little ass-whipping from one of the greatest to ever step in the ring. I adore this sport and I'm going to come back and continue winning."