🔗 Share this article

Jake Paul's jaw dropped wide open, his expression turning to wide, stunned circles as he collapsed to the mat in stunned disbelief after a pulverising right hand from Anthony Joshua. It appeared as if Paul was trying to say "Wow!" as the force of the impact registered to his rattled senses.

"The fans didn't pay to see this garbage," said the referee, summing up the sorry spectacle much more effectively 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 in a desperate clinch as the gravity of the sweet science enveloped him. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the shot that fractured his mandible in two distinct locations, Paul was lost in an utterly stunned moment.

So this is how it feels, and looks, to be hit hard by a genuine professional fighter, an Olympic gold medallist and former world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is indeed the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the social media star had been sent to the floor, but the result of a proper power shot meant Paul would not be able to get up and taunt his opponent before the official waved the charade over. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a dull ache spread through his jaw, Paul finally understood how difficult, exhausting, and dangerous boxing is at a decent level of professionalism.

An Unimpressive Impressive Win for Joshua

Anthony Joshua, it should be stressed, was far from convincing amid the bedlam. After his empty victory, he made a cut-throat motion that hinted at a precise and lethal finish when, in truth, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for the majority of the contest. Instead of exuding intimidation or exhibiting an iron certainty, Joshua had seemed hesitant and awkward for nearly five stanzas.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a basic essential in top-level boxing, shaped the outcome. Without the gas to escape any more, and reduced to slipping to the deck as often as he could for a rest, Paul was rendered defenseless by exhaustion. Joshua applied the brutal ending, but, until then, he had seemed a sad imitation of the fighter he was in 2017.

The Winner's Post-Fight Assessment

"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 request, and that's what was on my thoughts. It took a little more time than expected, but the straight right finally found its target."

Joshua commended Paul's courage 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, referencing his previous defeat. "We shook off the rust, and I can't wait to roll into 2026."

The Future: Faded Forces and Rising Stars

In the press conference that followed, a jovial Joshua tried out a poor impression of his domestic rival as he called for a fight against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will likely get his wish, but that bout comes much too late in their careers. Both fighters are on the downward slope of the peak.

In stark contrast, the most compelling heavyweights in the world are Oleksandr Usyk and the British prospect. Usyk remains the unquestioned ruler of the weight class, after defeating both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rising force. The young British heavyweight would probably have needed fewer than half the number of rounds that Joshua needed to knock Paul into a suitably astonished stupor.

The Defeated Fighter's Unbowed Response

But the public gets what the public desires, and that undoubtedly means more low-quality celebrity fights. Paul seemed truly proud and brash to have had his mandible fractured by a sledgehammer right. In the wee hours of the next day, he posted an radiograph, with the pair of breaks marked in crimson.

That lighthearted reference to the Mexican superstar, a much superior boxer than Joshua but a equally diminished force, showed that Paul's brazen audacity is undented. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly locate another opponent with whom he can make north of $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before departing to the hospital, Paul expelled a streak of blood onto the ring floor. It was another grim symbol of the evening as Paul mixed blunt truth with gory bravado and stated: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A proper beating from one of the best to ever step in the ring. I love this sport and I'm going to return and continue winning."