🔗 Share this article

Jake Paul's jaw dropped agape, his expression turning to huge glazed saucers as he sank to the mat in shock and awe after a pulverising right hand from the former champion. It looked as if Paul was trying to say "Wow!" as the severity of the impact registered to his rattled senses.

"The fans didn't spend money to see this garbage," said the referee, encapsulating the dismal affair much more effectively than anyone else managed to.

Pinned in a corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could not run or cling to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the gravity of the sweet science became clear. 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 is like, and looks, to be hit hard by a real professional fighter, an Olympic champion and former world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is indeed the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been knocked down, but the consequences of a proper punch meant Paul could not get up and waggle his tongue defiantly before the referee called the contest to a halt. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a dull ache spread through his jawbone, Paul at last grasped how hard, grueling, and perilous boxing is at a decent standard of competition.

A Far From Commanding Victory for the Victor

Joshua, it should be stressed, was far from convincing during the chaos. After his empty victory, he performed a throat-slitting gesture that hinted at a clinical and lethal execution when, in truth, Joshua had appeared exasperated for the majority of the contest. Rather than glowering with menace or displaying an iron certainty, Joshua had appeared tentative and awkward for almost five rounds.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a basic essential in elite boxing, dictated the result. Lacking the stamina to flee any more, and reduced to slipping to the canvas as frequently as he could for a breather, Paul was rendered helpless by fatigue. Joshua delivered the brutal ending, but, until then, he had seemed a sad imitation of the boxer he had been in 2017.

Joshua's Aftermath Assessment

"It wasn't the best performance," Joshua conceded. "The end goal was to catch Jake Paul, pin him down and hurt him. That has been the request, and that's what was on my thoughts. It took a little more time than anticipated, but the right hand finally reached its destination."

Joshua commended Paul's courage but he added an explanation for his own stilted performance. "He came up against a real fighter tonight that's had a fifteen-month hiatus," Joshua said, mentioning his previous defeat. "We dusted off the cobwebs, and I am eager to head into 2026."

The Future: Past Their Prime and New Talent

In the press conference that followed, a cheerful Joshua attempted a woeful impression of Tyson Fury as he demanded 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 compelling 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 on two occasions. At the same time, Itauma is a rapidly ascending force. The young British heavyweight would probably have required less than half the amount of rounds that Joshua needed to knock Paul into a appropriately wowed state.

Paul's Defiant Response

But the public receives what the public desires, and that undoubtedly means more low-quality celebrity fights. Paul seemed truly satisfied and cocky to have had his jaw broken by a sledgehammer right. In the wee hours of the next day, he shared an radiograph, with the two fractures highlighted in red.

That jokey reference to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a much superior boxer than Joshua but a equally faded force, showed that Paul's comic chutzpah remains undented. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will soon find someone else with whom he can make north of $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before leaving for the medical facility, Paul spat a streak of blood onto the ring floor. It was another grim summary of the night as Paul mangled harsh reality with blood-flecked bullshit and said: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A nice little beating from one of the greatest to ever do it. I love this sport and I'm going to come back and continue winning."