🔗 Share this article

Jake Paul's mouth gaped wide open, his expression turning to huge glazed saucers as he sank to the mat in stunned disbelief following a pulverising right hand from the former champion. It appeared as if Paul was trying to utter "Wow!" as the force of the blow sank in to his scrambled senses.

"Those watching didn't pay to see this crap," said the referee, encapsulating the sorry affair much more effectively than anyone else managed to.

Pinned in a corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could no longer 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 distinct locations, Paul was caught in an utterly dazed moment.

So that is what it is like, and looks, to be hit hard by a genuine professional fighter, an Olympic gold medallist and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is certainly the word.

It was the fourth time the social media star had been sent to the floor, but the consequences of a proper punch ensured Paul could not rise and waggle his tongue defiantly before the official called the charade over. As blood began to trickle from his lips, and a numbing throb spread through his jaw, Paul at last grasped how hard, grueling, and dangerous boxing is at a respectable level of competition.

A Far From Commanding Win for the Victor

Anthony Joshua, it should be stressed, was far from convincing during the chaos. After his empty victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that suggested a precise and deadly execution when, in truth, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for most of the contest. Instead of exuding intimidation or exhibiting an iron certainty, Joshua had appeared tentative and awkward for almost five stanzas.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a basic essential in elite boxing, dictated the result. Without the gas to escape any longer, and reduced to slipping to the canvas as frequently as he could for a rest, Paul was rendered helpless by exhaustion. Joshua delivered the brutal ending, but, up to that point, he had looked like a mournful imitation of the boxer he was in 2017.

The Winner's Post-Fight Assessment

"That was not the finest performance," Joshua admitted. "The end goal was to catch Jake Paul, corner him and do damage. That has been the request, and that's what was on my mind. It took a little more time than anticipated, but the right hand finally found its destination."

Joshua commended Paul's bravery but he offered an excuse for his own stilted performance. "He came up against a genuine competitor tonight that's had a fifteen-month hiatus," Joshua said, referencing his previous loss. "We dusted off the rust, and I am eager to head into 2026."

The Future: Faded Forces and Rising Stars

In the press conference afterwards, a jovial Joshua attempted a woeful impression of his domestic rival as he called for a scrap against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will likely get his wish, 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 the British prospect. Usyk remains the unquestioned king of the weight class, after defeating both Joshua and Fury twice. At the same time, Itauma is a rising force. The youthful British heavyweight would probably have needed less than half the number of three-minute periods that Joshua required to send Paul into a appropriately astonished stupor.

Paul's Unbowed Reaction

But the public gets what the public desires, and that undoubtedly means additional pitiful celebrity fights. Paul appeared truly satisfied and brash to have had his jaw broken by a sledgehammer right. In the early hours of Saturday morning, he posted an radiograph, with the pair of breaks marked in crimson.

That jokey nod to the Mexican superstar, a far greater fighter than Joshua but a equally diminished presence, demonstrated that Paul's comic chutzpah remains undented. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly find another opponent with whom he can make 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 another bleak symbol of the evening as Paul mangled blunt truth with gory bravado and stated: "I think my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A proper ass-whipping from one of the greatest to ever do it. I adore this shit and I'm going to come back and continue winning."