🔗 Share this article

Jake Paul's jaw dropped wide open, his expression turning to huge glazed saucers as he sank to the canvas in stunned disbelief following a pulverising right hand from Anthony Joshua. It looked as if Paul was attempting to say "Whoa!" as the force of the impact registered to his scrambled senses.

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

Pinned in a corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could no longer run or hold on to Joshua's legs like a forlorn little boy as the serious reality of boxing enveloped him. Instead, as he tried to absorb the shot that fractured his mandible in two separate places, Paul was lost in an completely stunned moment.

So this is how it feels, and appears, to be struck cleanly by a real professional fighter, an Olympic champion and former world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is certainly the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been sent to the floor, but the result of a proper 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 trickle from his mouth, and a dull ache spread through his jaw, Paul at last grasped how hard, grueling, and dangerous boxing is at a decent standard of competition.

An Unimpressive Impressive Victory for Joshua

Anthony Joshua, it should be stressed, was not impressive amid the chaos. After his hollow victory, he performed a cut-throat motion that suggested a precise and deadly finish when, in reality, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for most of the fight. Instead of glowering with menace or exhibiting an iron certainty, Joshua had seemed tentative and awkward for nearly five stanzas.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a basic essential in elite boxing, dictated the outcome. Lacking the stamina to escape any longer, and resorting to falling to the canvas as often as he could for a rest, Paul was left helpless by exhaustion. Joshua applied the brutal finish, but, up to that point, he had looked like a sad imitation of the boxer he was in 2017.

Joshua's Aftermath Comments

"That was not the best display," Joshua conceded. "The end goal was to get Jake Paul, corner him and do damage. That has been the plan, and that's what was on my mind. It took a bit longer than expected, but the right hand eventually found its target."

Joshua praised Paul's courage but he added an excuse for his own stilted performance. "He faced a genuine competitor tonight that's had a 15-month hiatus," Joshua said, mentioning his previous loss. "We shook off the cobwebs, and I can't wait to roll into 2026."

What Comes Next: Faded Forces and New Talent

In the post-fight interview that followed, a jovial Joshua attempted a woeful impression of Tyson Fury as he called for a scrap against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will probably 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 compelling heavyweights in the world remain the Ukrainian master and the British prospect. Usyk is still the undoubted ruler of the division, having beaten both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rising force. The youthful British heavyweight likely have required fewer than half the number of three-minute periods that Joshua needed to send Paul into a suitably wowed state.

The Defeated Fighter's Defiant Response

But the fans gets what the public wants, and that certainly means additional pitiful celebrity fights. Paul appeared genuinely proud and brash to have had his jaw broken by a hammer-like right. In the wee hours of Saturday morning, he posted an radiograph, with the pair of breaks highlighted in crimson.

That lighthearted reference to the Mexican superstar, a far greater fighter than Joshua but a similarly diminished force, showed that Paul's brazen audacity remains unbroken. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly find someone else with whom he can earn more than $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before departing to the hospital, Paul expelled a tracer of blood onto the canvas. It was one more bleak symbol of the night 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 do it. I adore this shit and I'm going to come back and keep on winning."