🔗 Share this article

Jake Paul's jaw dropped agape, his expression turning to huge glazed saucers as he collapsed to the canvas in shock and awe following a devastating right hand from the former champion. It looked as if Paul was attempting to utter "Whoa!" as the force of the impact registered to his rattled senses.

"Those watching didn't spend money to see this garbage," said the referee, summing up the sorry spectacle far more succinctly than any observer else could.

Pinned in a corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could not retreat or cling to Joshua's legs like a forlorn little boy as the gravity of the sweet science became clear. Instead, as he tried to absorb the punch that broke his jaw in two distinct locations, Paul was caught in an utterly stunned moment.

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

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been sent to the floor, but the consequences of a clean punch meant Paul would not be able to get up and waggle his tongue defiantly before the official called the charade to a halt. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a dull ache radiated through his jaw, Paul at last grasped how hard, exhausting, and dangerous boxing is at a respectable standard of competition.

An Unimpressive Impressive Win for Joshua

Joshua, it must be noted, was not impressive amid the bedlam. After his hollow victory, he performed a cut-throat motion that suggested a precise and deadly finish when, in reality, Joshua had appeared exasperated for most of the fight. Instead of exuding intimidation or displaying an iron certainty, Joshua had seemed tentative and crude for nearly five stanzas.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a basic essential in elite boxing, shaped the outcome. Lacking the stamina to flee any more, and resorting to slipping to the deck as often as he could for a rest, Paul was rendered helpless by exhaustion. Joshua delivered the brutal finish, but, up to that point, he had looked like a mournful imitation of the boxer he had been in 2017.

The Winner's Aftermath Comments

"That was not the finest performance," Joshua conceded. "The end goal was to get Jake Paul, pin him down and hurt him. That has been the request, and that's what was on my thoughts. It took a little more time than expected, but the straight right finally reached its target."

Joshua praised Paul's bravery but he added an excuse for his own stilted 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 am eager to head into 2026."

The Future: Past Their Prime and Rising Stars

In the post-fight interview that followed, a cheerful Joshua attempted a poor 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 careers. Both fighters are on the downward slope of the peak.

In contrast, the most interesting heavyweights in the world are Oleksandr Usyk and the British prospect. Usyk remains the unquestioned king of the weight class, after defeating both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rapidly ascending force. The young British heavyweight would probably have required fewer than half the number of three-minute periods that Joshua needed to knock Paul into a appropriately wowed stupor.

Paul's Defiant Response

But the fans gets what the public wants, and that undoubtedly means additional pitiful crossover fights. Paul seemed genuinely satisfied and brash to have had his mandible fractured by a sledgehammer right. In the early hours of Saturday morning, he posted an radiograph, with the two fractures highlighted in crimson.

That lighthearted nod to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a much superior fighter than Joshua but a similarly faded presence, demonstrated that Paul's comic chutzpah is undented. 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 leaving for the hospital, Paul expelled a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was one more bleak summary of the evening as Paul mixed blunt truth with blood-flecked bravado and said: "I think my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A nice little beating from one of the greatest to ever do it. I love this sport and I'm going to come back and keep on winning."