🔗 Share this article

Jake Paul's mouth gaped agape, his expression turning to huge glazed saucers as he collapsed to the mat in shock and awe after a devastating right hand from the former champion. It looked as if Paul was trying to utter "Wow!" as the severity of the impact registered to his scrambled senses.

"The audience didn't pay to see this garbage," said the referee, summing up the sorry spectacle much more succinctly than any observer else could.

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 serious reality of the sweet science became clear. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the punch that broke his jaw in two separate places, Paul was lost in an utterly dazed moment.

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

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been knocked down, but the result of a clean punch ensured Paul could not get up and waggle his tongue defiantly before the referee called the charade over. As blood began to trickle from his mouth, and a dull ache spread through his jawbone, Paul at last grasped how difficult, grueling, and perilous boxing is at a respectable level of professionalism.

A Far From Impressive Victory for the Victor

Anthony Joshua, it must be noted, was far from convincing amid the bedlam. After his hollow victory, he performed a cut-throat motion that hinted at a clinical and deadly execution when, in truth, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for the majority of the fight. Instead of glowering with menace or exhibiting an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had seemed hesitant and crude for almost five rounds.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a fundamental requirement in elite boxing, dictated the result. Without the gas to escape any more, and reduced to falling to the canvas as frequently as he could for a breather, Paul was left defenseless by exhaustion. Joshua applied the brutal finish, but, until then, he had looked like a sad imitation of the boxer he was in 2017.

Joshua's Post-Fight Comments

"It wasn't the best display," Joshua conceded. "The objective was to get Jake Paul, pin him down and hurt him. That has been the plan, and that's what was on my thoughts. It took a little more time than anticipated, but the right hand finally reached its target."

Joshua commended Paul's bravery but he offered an excuse for his own stilted showing. "He came up against a real fighter tonight that's had a 15-month layoff," Joshua said, mentioning his last defeat. "We dusted off the rust, and I am eager to roll into 2026."

What Comes Next: Past Their Prime and New Talent

In the post-fight interview afterwards, a cheerful Joshua attempted a woeful imitation of Tyson Fury as he called for a scrap against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will likely have his way, but that matchup comes far too late in their careers. Both fighters are on the far side of the hill.

In contrast, the most interesting heavyweights in the world remain the Ukrainian master and Moses Itauma. Usyk remains the unquestioned king of the division, having beaten both Joshua and Fury twice. At the same time, Itauma is a rapidly ascending force. The youthful British heavyweight likely have needed less than half the amount of three-minute periods that Joshua required to knock Paul into a suitably wowed state.

The Defeated Fighter's Unbowed Reaction

But the fans receives what the public desires, and that certainly means additional low-quality crossover fights. Paul seemed genuinely proud and cocky to have had his jaw broken by a sledgehammer right. In the wee hours of Saturday morning, he posted an radiograph, with the pair of breaks marked in crimson.

That lighthearted reference to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a much superior fighter than Joshua but a equally diminished force, showed that Paul's brazen audacity is unbroken. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will soon find another opponent with whom he can make more than $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before departing to 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 blood-flecked bravado and stated: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A nice little ass-whipping from one of the greatest to ever step in the ring. I adore this sport and I'm going to come back and keep on winning."