🔗 Share this article

Jake Paul's jaw dropped agape, his eyes becoming wide, stunned circles as he sank to the mat in shock and awe following a pulverising right hand from the former champion. It looked as if Paul was attempting to say "Wow!" as the severity of the impact registered to his scrambled senses.

"The audience didn't pay to see this garbage," snapped the referee, encapsulating the sorry spectacle much more effectively than any observer else managed to.

Pinned in a neutral corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could not run or hold on to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the gravity of the sweet science enveloped him. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the punch that fractured his mandible in two separate places, Paul was caught in an completely stunned moment.

So that is what it feels, and appears, to be hit hard by a genuine boxer, an Olympic champion and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is certainly the word.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been sent to the floor, but the result of a clean punch meant Paul could not rise and taunt his opponent before the referee called the contest to a halt. As blood began to trickle from his mouth, and a numbing throb spread through his jawbone, Paul at last grasped how difficult, grueling, and perilous boxing is at a decent standard of professionalism.

An Unimpressive Commanding Victory for the Victor

Joshua, it must be noted, was not impressive during the chaos. After his empty victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that suggested a clinical and lethal finish when, in truth, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for most of the contest. Instead of glowering with menace or exhibiting an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had appeared hesitant and crude for almost five stanzas.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a fundamental requirement in top-level boxing, dictated the result. Without the gas to escape any more, and reduced to slipping to the deck as frequently as he could for a rest, Paul was rendered helpless by exhaustion. Joshua delivered the brutal ending, but, until then, he had seemed a sad shadow of the fighter he was in 2017.

The Winner's Aftermath Assessment

"That was not the finest display," Joshua admitted. "The objective was to catch Jake Paul, pin him down and do damage. That has been the plan, 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 explanation for his own stilted showing. "He faced a real fighter tonight that's had a fifteen-month hiatus," Joshua said, mentioning his previous defeat. "We shook off the cobwebs, and I can't wait to head into 2026."

What Comes Next: Faded Forces and New Talent

In the post-fight interview that followed, a cheerful Joshua attempted a woeful imitation of Tyson Fury as he called for a fight against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will likely have his way, but that matchup comes far too late in their professional journeys. Both fighters are on the far side of the peak.

In contrast, the most interesting heavyweights in the world remain the Ukrainian master and Moses Itauma. Usyk remains the undoubted ruler of the division, after defeating both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. At the same time, Itauma is a rapidly ascending force. The young British heavyweight would probably have needed less than half the number of three-minute periods that Joshua required to knock Paul into a appropriately wowed stupor.

Paul's Defiant Reaction

But the public gets what the public desires, and that certainly means more low-quality celebrity fights. Paul seemed genuinely proud and cocky to have had his jaw broken by a hammer-like right. In the wee hours of Saturday morning, he shared an X-ray, with the pair of breaks highlighted in red.

That jokey reference to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a far greater boxer than Joshua but a equally faded force, showed that Paul's comic chutzpah remains undented. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly locate someone else with whom he can earn more than $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before leaving for the hospital, Paul spat a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was one more bleak summary of the evening as Paul mixed harsh reality with gory bravado and said: "I think my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A nice little ass-whipping from one of the best to ever do it. I love this sport and I'm going to come back and continue winning."