The YouTuber-turned-fighter's mouth gaped wide open, his eyes becoming huge glazed saucers as he collapsed to the canvas in shock and awe following a pulverising right hand from Anthony Joshua. It looked as if Paul was trying to say "Whoa!" as the severity of the impact registered to his rattled senses.
"Those watching didn't pay to see this crap," snapped the referee, summing up the dismal affair much more succinctly than anyone else could.
Pinned in a corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could not retreat or hold on to Joshua's legs like a forlorn little boy as the gravity of the sweet science became clear. Instead, as he tried to absorb the shot that fractured his mandible 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 genuine boxer, an Olympic champion and former world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is indeed the appropriate term.
It was the fourth time the social media star had been knocked down, but the consequences of a proper punch meant Paul could not rise and taunt his opponent before the official called the charade over. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a dull ache radiated through his jawbone, Paul at last understood how difficult, exhausting, and perilous boxing is at a decent standard of competition.
A Far From Commanding Win for Joshua
Joshua, it should be stressed, was far from convincing during the chaos. After his hollow victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that suggested a clinical and deadly finish when, in truth, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for most of the fight. Instead of glowering with menace or exhibiting an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had appeared hesitant and crude for almost five stanzas.
Paul's poor fitness, which is a basic essential in elite boxing, shaped the outcome. Without the gas to flee any more, and resorting to falling to the deck as often as he could for a breather, Paul was left defenseless by exhaustion. Joshua delivered the vicious finish, but, up to that point, he had looked like a mournful imitation of the boxer he was in 2017.
Joshua's Aftermath Comments
"That was not the finest display," Joshua admitted. "The end goal was to catch Jake Paul, corner him and hurt him. That has been the plan, and that's what was on my thoughts. It took a bit longer than expected, but the right hand finally found its target."
Joshua praised Paul's bravery but he added an excuse for his own labored showing. "He came up against a real fighter tonight that's had a fifteen-month layoff," Joshua said, referencing his last loss. "We dusted off the cobwebs, and I am eager to head into 2026."
What Comes Next: Past Their Prime and Rising Stars
In the post-fight interview afterwards, a cheerful Joshua tried out a poor impression of his domestic rival as he called for a fight against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will likely get his wish, but that bout comes far too late in their careers. Both men are on the far side of the hill.
In stark contrast, the most interesting heavyweights in the world are the Ukrainian master and Moses Itauma. Usyk is still the undoubted king of the weight class, after defeating both Joshua and Fury twice. At the same time, Itauma is a rising talent. The youthful British heavyweight likely have required less than half the number of rounds that Joshua needed to knock Paul into a suitably wowed stupor.
The Defeated Fighter's Unbowed Response
But the public receives what the public wants, and that certainly means additional low-quality celebrity fights. Paul appeared genuinely satisfied and brash to have had his mandible fractured by a hammer-like right. In the early hours of the next day, he shared an X-ray, with the two fractures marked in red.
That jokey reference to the Mexican superstar, a far greater fighter than Joshua but a equally faded presence, showed that Paul's comic chutzpah is unbroken. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly locate someone else with whom he can make north of $50 million.
While he was being interviewed, before leaving for the hospital, Paul spat a streak of blood onto the ring floor. It was another bleak summary of the night as Paul mixed blunt truth with gory bullshit and said: "I believe 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 love this sport and I'm going to come back and continue winning."
