🔗 Share this article

Jake Paul's mouth gaped agape, his eyes becoming wide, stunned circles as he collapsed to the mat in stunned disbelief after a devastating right hand from Anthony Joshua. It looked as if Paul was attempting to utter "Wow!" as the severity of the blow registered to his rattled senses.

"The audience didn't spend money to see this garbage," snapped the referee, summing up the dismal affair far more effectively than anyone else managed to.

Pinned in a corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could not run or cling 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 separate places, Paul was lost in an completely stunned moment.

So that is what it is like, and appears, to be hit hard by a real professional fighter, an Olympic champion and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is certainly the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the social media star had been knocked down, but the result of a proper power shot meant Paul could not rise and waggle his tongue defiantly before the referee waved the contest to a halt. As blood began to trickle from his lips, and a numbing throb spread through his jaw, Paul at last understood how difficult, grueling, and perilous boxing is at a decent level of professionalism.

A Far From Commanding Victory for the Victor

Anthony Joshua, it must be noted, was not impressive amid the bedlam. After his hollow victory, he performed a throat-slitting gesture that suggested a precise and lethal finish when, in reality, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for the majority of the fight. Instead of glowering with menace or displaying an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had appeared tentative and awkward for nearly five rounds.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a fundamental requirement in top-level boxing, shaped the outcome. Without the gas to escape any longer, and reduced to slipping to the canvas as often as he could for a rest, Paul was rendered defenseless by fatigue. Joshua delivered the brutal finish, but, up to that point, he had seemed a sad shadow of the fighter he had been in 2017.

The Winner's Aftermath Assessment

"That was not the finest display," Joshua admitted. "The end goal was to get Jake Paul, corner him and do damage. That has been the plan, and that's what was on my thoughts. It took a bit longer than anticipated, but the right hand finally found its target."

Joshua commended Paul's bravery but he added an excuse for his own labored performance. "He faced a real fighter tonight that's had a 15-month hiatus," Joshua said, mentioning his previous loss. "We shook off the cobwebs, and I can't wait to roll into 2026."

The Future: Faded Forces and Rising Stars

In the post-fight interview afterwards, a jovial Joshua tried out a woeful imitation of Tyson Fury as he demanded a scrap against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will probably get his wish, but that bout 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 remain Oleksandr Usyk and the British prospect. Usyk is still 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 would probably have needed fewer than half the amount of rounds that Joshua needed to knock Paul into a suitably wowed stupor.

The Defeated Fighter's Unbowed Response

But the fans receives what the public wants, and that undoubtedly means additional low-quality crossover contests. Paul appeared truly satisfied and brash to have had his jaw broken by a sledgehammer right. In the early hours of the next day, he shared an X-ray, with the two fractures marked in red.

That jokey reference to the Mexican superstar, a far greater fighter than Joshua but a similarly faded presence, demonstrated that Paul's brazen audacity is unbroken. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly locate someone else with whom he can make more than $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before departing to the hospital, Paul spat a streak of blood onto the ring floor. It was one more bleak symbol of the night as Paul mixed harsh reality with gory bravado and stated: "I believe 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 adore this sport and I'm going to return and continue winning."