🔗 Share this article

Jake Paul's jaw dropped agape, his eyes becoming wide, stunned circles as he collapsed to the canvas in shock and awe after a pulverising right hand from the former champion. It looked as if Paul was trying to utter "Whoa!" as the severity of the impact registered to his rattled senses.

"The audience didn't pay to see this garbage," said the referee, summing up the dismal spectacle far more effectively than anyone else could.

Trapped in a corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could no longer retreat 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 shot that broke his jaw in two distinct locations, Paul was lost in an completely stunned moment.

So that is what it is like, and looks, to be hit hard by a genuine boxer, an Olympic gold medallist and former world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is certainly the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been sent to the floor, but the result of a clean punch meant Paul could not rise and waggle his tongue defiantly before the referee waved the charade to a halt. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a dull ache spread through his jaw, Paul finally understood how hard, grueling, and dangerous boxing is at a decent standard of competition.

A Far From Impressive Victory for Joshua

Anthony Joshua, it must be noted, was not impressive amid the bedlam. After his empty victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that suggested a clinical and deadly finish when, in reality, Joshua had appeared exasperated for the majority of the contest. Rather than exuding intimidation or displaying an iron certainty, Joshua had appeared hesitant and crude for almost five stanzas.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a fundamental requirement in top-level boxing, dictated the outcome. Without the gas to escape any more, and resorting to slipping to the deck as frequently as he could for a rest, Paul was rendered defenseless by fatigue. Joshua applied the vicious finish, but, until then, he had seemed a sad imitation of the boxer he had been in 2017.

Joshua's Post-Fight Assessment

"That was not the best performance," Joshua admitted. "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 reached its destination."

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

The Future: Past Their Prime and New Talent

In the post-fight interview afterwards, a cheerful Joshua tried out a poor impression of Tyson Fury as he demanded a fight against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will probably get his wish, but that matchup comes far too late in their professional journeys. Both fighters are on the downward slope of the peak.

In contrast, the most interesting heavyweights in the world remain Oleksandr Usyk and the British prospect. Usyk is still the undoubted king of the division, having beaten both Joshua and Fury twice. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rapidly ascending talent. The youthful British heavyweight would probably have needed less than half the amount of rounds that Joshua required to knock Paul into a appropriately wowed state.

Paul's Defiant Response

But the public gets what the public wants, and that certainly means additional low-quality celebrity contests. Paul appeared genuinely proud and cocky to have had his jaw broken by a sledgehammer right. In the early hours of the next day, he posted an X-ray, with the pair of breaks marked in red.

That jokey nod to the Mexican superstar, a much superior fighter than Joshua but a similarly faded force, showed that Paul's comic chutzpah is unbroken. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly find 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 one more grim symbol of the evening as Paul mangled blunt truth with gory bullshit and stated: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A proper beating from one of the greatest to ever step in the ring. I love this shit and I'm going to return and keep on winning."