🔗 Share this article

Jake Paul's mouth gaped agape, his eyes becoming huge glazed saucers as he collapsed to the mat in stunned disbelief following a pulverising right hand from the former champion. It appeared as if Paul was trying to utter "Whoa!" as the force of the impact sank in to his scrambled senses.

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

Pinned in a neutral corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could no longer retreat or hold on to Joshua's legs like a forlorn little boy as the gravity of the sweet science enveloped him. Instead, as he tried to absorb the shot that broke his jaw in two separate places, Paul was lost in an completely stunned moment.

So that is what it is like, and looks, to be struck cleanly by a genuine professional fighter, an Olympic gold medallist and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is certainly the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been knocked down, but the result of a proper power shot 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 jaw, Paul at last understood how difficult, exhausting, and dangerous boxing is at a decent standard of professionalism.

A Far From Commanding Victory for Joshua

Joshua, it must be noted, was not impressive during the chaos. After his hollow victory, he made a cut-throat motion that suggested a precise and lethal finish when, in truth, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for the majority of the contest. Rather than exuding intimidation or displaying an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had seemed hesitant and awkward for nearly five rounds.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a fundamental requirement in elite boxing, dictated the result. Without the gas to flee any more, and resorting to falling to the deck as frequently as he could for a breather, Paul was left helpless by fatigue. Joshua applied the vicious finish, but, until then, he had seemed a sad imitation of the fighter he was in 2017.

The Winner's Post-Fight Comments

"It wasn't the best display," Joshua conceded. "The objective 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 bit longer than anticipated, but the right hand eventually reached its target."

Joshua praised Paul's courage but he added an excuse for his own stilted performance. "He came up against a real fighter tonight that's had a fifteen-month layoff," Joshua said, referencing his previous loss. "We dusted off the rust, and I can't wait to head into 2026."

The Future: Past Their Prime and New Talent

In the post-fight interview afterwards, a cheerful Joshua tried out a woeful imitation of Tyson Fury as he called for a scrap against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will probably get his wish, but that matchup comes much too late in their professional journeys. Both men are on the far side of the peak.

In contrast, the most interesting big men in the world remain Oleksandr Usyk and Moses Itauma. Usyk remains the unquestioned king of the weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rising force. The young British heavyweight would probably have needed fewer than half the amount of rounds that Joshua required to knock Paul into a suitably wowed state.

Paul's Defiant Response

But the public gets what the public desires, and that certainly means more pitiful celebrity contests. Paul seemed truly proud and brash to have had his mandible fractured by a hammer-like right. In the wee hours of the next day, he posted an radiograph, with the two fractures marked in crimson.

That lighthearted nod to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a much superior boxer than Joshua but a similarly diminished force, showed that Paul's brazen audacity is undented. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will soon find someone else with whom he can earn north of $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before departing to the medical facility, Paul spat a streak of blood onto the ring floor. It was one more bleak summary of the evening as Paul mangled blunt truth with blood-flecked bullshit and stated: "I think my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A nice little ass-whipping from one of the best to ever do it. I adore this shit and I'm going to come back and continue winning."