🔗 Share this article

Jake Paul's jaw dropped agape, his eyes becoming huge glazed saucers as he sank to the mat in stunned disbelief following a devastating right hand from Anthony Joshua. It appeared as if Paul was trying to utter "Whoa!" as the severity of the blow sank in to his rattled senses.

"The fans didn't pay to see this garbage," snapped the referee, summing up the dismal spectacle far more succinctly 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 like a forlorn little boy as the gravity of boxing enveloped him. Instead, as he tried to absorb the punch that broke his jaw in two distinct locations, Paul was lost in an completely dazed moment.

So that is what it is like, and appears, to be struck cleanly by a genuine professional fighter, an Olympic champion and former world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is certainly the word.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been knocked down, but the result of a clean power shot ensured Paul could not rise 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 jaw, Paul at last understood how hard, grueling, and perilous boxing is at a respectable level of competition.

A Far From Commanding Win for Joshua

Anthony Joshua, it should be stressed, was far from convincing amid the bedlam. After his hollow victory, he made a cut-throat motion that suggested a clinical and deadly finish when, in truth, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for the majority of the fight. Rather than glowering with menace or exhibiting an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had seemed hesitant and awkward for almost five stanzas.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a fundamental requirement in top-level boxing, dictated the outcome. Lacking the stamina to escape any more, and resorting to falling 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 looked like a sad imitation of the boxer he had been in 2017.

The Winner's Aftermath Comments

"That was not the best display," Joshua conceded. "The objective was to get Jake Paul, corner him and hurt him. That has been the request, and that's what was on my thoughts. It took a little more time than expected, but the right hand eventually found its destination."

Joshua praised Paul's courage but he offered an excuse for his own stilted performance. "He faced a genuine competitor tonight that's had a 15-month layoff," Joshua said, referencing his previous defeat. "We shook off the rust, and I am eager to roll into 2026."

The Future: Faded Forces and New Talent

In the press conference that followed, a jovial Joshua attempted a poor imitation of his domestic rival as he demanded a scrap against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will probably get his wish, but that matchup comes much too late in their professional journeys. Both men are on the downward slope of the hill.

In stark contrast, the most interesting big men in the world are the Ukrainian master and the British prospect. Usyk is still the undoubted king of the weight class, after defeating both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rising force. The youthful British heavyweight would probably have needed less than half the amount of rounds that Joshua needed to knock Paul into a suitably astonished state.

The Defeated Fighter's Defiant Response

But the public gets what the public desires, and that undoubtedly means additional low-quality crossover fights. Paul appeared genuinely satisfied and cocky to have had his mandible fractured by a hammer-like right. In the early hours of the next day, he shared an radiograph, with the pair of breaks marked in red.

That jokey nod to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a far greater fighter than Joshua but a similarly diminished force, demonstrated that Paul's comic chutzpah is undented. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will soon find another opponent with whom he can earn more than $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before leaving for the hospital, Paul expelled a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was another grim symbol of the evening as Paul mangled blunt truth 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 step in the ring. I love this sport and I'm going to return and keep on winning."