🔗 Share this article

Jake Paul's mouth gaped agape, his expression turning to huge glazed saucers as he collapsed to the canvas in shock and awe after a devastating right hand from Anthony Joshua. It looked as if Paul was attempting to utter "Whoa!" as the force of the impact registered to his scrambled senses.

"Those watching didn't pay to see this rubbish," said the referee, summing up the dismal spectacle far more effectively than anyone else managed to.

Trapped in a corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could no longer retreat or cling to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the serious reality of boxing enveloped him. Instead, as he tried to absorb the punch that fractured his mandible in two separate places, Paul was caught in an utterly stunned moment.

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

It was the fourth time the social media star had been knocked down, but the result of a clean power shot meant Paul would not be able to rise and taunt his opponent before the referee called the charade to a halt. As blood began to trickle from his mouth, and a numbing throb spread through his jaw, Paul finally grasped how difficult, exhausting, and dangerous boxing is at a decent standard of professionalism.

An Unimpressive Commanding Win for the Victor

Anthony Joshua, it should be stressed, was not impressive amid the chaos. After his empty victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that hinted at a precise and deadly execution when, in truth, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for most of the fight. Instead of glowering with menace or displaying an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had seemed hesitant and crude for almost five stanzas.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a fundamental requirement in top-level boxing, shaped the outcome. Lacking the stamina to flee any more, and reduced to falling to the canvas as frequently as he could for a rest, Paul was rendered defenseless by fatigue. Joshua delivered the brutal ending, but, up to that point, he had seemed a sad shadow of the boxer he had been in 2017.

Joshua's Aftermath Comments

"It wasn't the finest performance," Joshua conceded. "The objective was to catch Jake Paul, pin him down and hurt him. That has been the plan, and that's what was on my thoughts. It took a bit longer than expected, but the straight right finally found its destination."

Joshua praised Paul's bravery but he added an explanation for his own stilted showing. "He faced a real fighter tonight that's had a 15-month hiatus," Joshua said, referencing his previous defeat. "We dusted off the cobwebs, and I can't wait to head into 2026."

The Future: Faded Forces and New Talent

In the press conference that followed, a cheerful Joshua tried out a woeful impression of his domestic rival as he demanded a fight against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will probably have his way, but that matchup comes much too late in their professional journeys. Both fighters are on the far side of the peak.

In stark contrast, the most interesting big men in the world remain the Ukrainian master and Moses Itauma. Usyk remains the undoubted ruler of the weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury twice. At the same time, Itauma is a rising talent. The youthful British heavyweight would probably have required less than half the number of three-minute periods that Joshua required to send Paul into a appropriately astonished state.

Paul's Defiant Reaction

But the public receives what the public desires, and that certainly means more pitiful crossover fights. Paul seemed truly proud and brash to have had his mandible fractured by a sledgehammer right. In the wee hours of Saturday morning, he shared an radiograph, with the two fractures highlighted in red.

That lighthearted reference to the Mexican superstar, a far greater boxer than Joshua but a equally faded 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 departing to the hospital, Paul spat a tracer of blood onto the canvas. It was another bleak summary of the evening as Paul mixed harsh reality with gory bullshit and stated: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A nice little ass-whipping from one of the greatest to ever do it. I love this shit and I'm going to come back and keep on winning."