🔗 Share this article

Jake Paul's mouth gaped wide open, 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 attempting to say "Whoa!" as the severity of the blow registered to his rattled senses.

"Those watching didn't spend money to see this rubbish," snapped the referee, encapsulating the sorry spectacle far more effectively than anyone else could.

Pinned in a neutral corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could not run 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 punch that broke his jaw in two distinct locations, Paul was lost 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 gold medallist and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is certainly the word.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been knocked down, but the consequences of a clean power shot ensured Paul would not be able to rise and waggle his tongue defiantly before the referee called the charade to a halt. As blood began to trickle from his lips, and a dull ache radiated through his jawbone, Paul finally grasped how hard, grueling, and perilous boxing is at a decent standard of professionalism.

An Unimpressive Impressive Win for the Victor

Joshua, it must be noted, was not impressive during the bedlam. After his empty victory, he made a cut-throat motion that hinted at a precise and deadly finish when, in reality, Joshua had appeared exasperated for most of the contest. Rather than glowering with menace or displaying an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had seemed hesitant and crude 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 reduced to falling to the deck as frequently as he could for a breather, Paul was left defenseless by exhaustion. Joshua applied the brutal ending, but, until then, he had looked like a sad shadow of the boxer he was in 2017.

Joshua's Post-Fight Assessment

"That was not the best 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 little more time than expected, but the straight right finally reached its destination."

Joshua commended Paul's bravery but he added an explanation for his own labored performance. "He came up against a real fighter tonight that's had a 15-month layoff," Joshua said, mentioning his last defeat. "We shook off the cobwebs, and I can't wait to roll into 2026."

The Future: Faded Forces and New Talent

In the press conference that followed, a cheerful Joshua attempted a woeful imitation of his domestic rival as he called for a scrap against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will probably get his wish, but that matchup comes far too late in their careers. Both fighters are on the far side of the peak.

In 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 weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury twice. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rapidly ascending force. The young British heavyweight likely have needed less than half the amount of three-minute periods that Joshua required to send Paul into a appropriately astonished stupor.

The Defeated Fighter's Defiant Reaction

But the public gets what the public wants, and that certainly means more pitiful crossover fights. Paul seemed truly proud and brash to have had his jaw broken 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 the Mexican superstar, a far greater boxer than Joshua but a similarly diminished 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 earn north of $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before departing to the hospital, Paul spat a streak of blood onto the ring floor. It was another bleak summary of the evening as Paul mixed blunt truth with gory bravado and said: "I think my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A nice little ass-whipping from one of the greatest to ever do it. I adore this shit and I'm going to return and continue winning."