Jake Paul's jaw dropped agape, his expression turning to wide, stunned circles as he sank to the canvas in stunned disbelief after a pulverising right hand from the former champion. It looked as if Paul was attempting to say "Wow!" as the force of the impact registered to his rattled senses.
"The audience didn't pay to see this rubbish," said the referee, encapsulating the dismal spectacle far more succinctly than any observer else managed to.
Pinned in a neutral corner of the ring in the middle of 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 shot that broke his jaw in two separate places, Paul was caught in an completely stunned moment.
So this is how it is like, and looks, to be struck cleanly by a real professional fighter, an Olympic champion and former world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is indeed the appropriate term.
It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been sent to the floor, but the consequences of a proper power shot ensured Paul would not be able to rise and taunt his opponent before the official called the contest over. As blood began to trickle from his mouth, and a dull ache spread through his jawbone, Paul at last grasped how hard, grueling, and perilous boxing is at a respectable level of competition.
Joshua, it must be noted, was far from convincing amid the bedlam. After his hollow victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that suggested a precise and lethal execution when, in truth, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for the majority of the contest. Rather than exuding intimidation or exhibiting an iron certainty, Joshua had appeared hesitant and awkward for nearly five rounds.
Paul's poor fitness, which is a fundamental requirement in top-level boxing, shaped the result. Without the gas to escape any longer, and resorting to slipping to the canvas as frequently as he could for a rest, Paul was left helpless by fatigue. Joshua applied the vicious finish, but, until then, he had looked like a sad imitation of the boxer he had been in 2017.
"It wasn't the finest performance," Joshua admitted. "The end goal was to catch Jake Paul, pin him down and do damage. That has been the request, and that's what was on my thoughts. It took a bit longer than anticipated, but the straight right eventually found its destination."
Joshua commended Paul's bravery but he offered an excuse for his own labored performance. "He came up against a genuine competitor tonight that's had a 15-month layoff," Joshua said, referencing his last defeat. "We dusted off the rust, and I can't wait to roll into 2026."
In the press conference afterwards, a jovial Joshua attempted a woeful impression of Tyson Fury as he called for a fight against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will likely 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 stark contrast, the most compelling big men in the world are the Ukrainian master and Moses Itauma. Usyk remains the undoubted king of the division, after defeating both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. At the same time, Itauma is a rising talent. 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.
But the public receives what the public desires, and that undoubtedly means more low-quality celebrity fights. Paul seemed truly proud and cocky to have had his mandible fractured by a hammer-like right. In the wee hours of the next day, he posted an X-ray, with the two fractures marked in red.
That jokey nod to the Mexican superstar, a much superior boxer than Joshua but a equally diminished force, demonstrated that Paul's comic chutzpah is undented. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly locate another opponent with whom he can make more than $50 million.
During his in-ring interview, before leaving for the hospital, Paul spat a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was another grim summary of the evening as Paul mixed harsh reality with gory bravado and stated: "I think my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A proper beating from one of the best to ever do it. I love this shit and I'm going to return and keep on winning."
Elena Vance is a digital strategist with over a decade of experience in UK business consulting, specializing in technology-driven growth solutions.