Anthony Joshua & Paul Produce a Regrettable Spectacle and the Most Troubling Aspect is There's More to Come

Jake Paul's mouth gaped agape, his eyes becoming huge glazed saucers as he collapsed to the canvas in shock and awe after a pulverising right hand from Anthony Joshua. It looked as if Paul was attempting to say "Whoa!" as the severity of the impact sank in to his scrambled senses.

Trapped in a neutral 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 serious reality 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 dazed moment.

So this is how it is like, and appears, to be hit hard by a real professional fighter, an Olympic gold medallist and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is indeed the word.

It was the fourth time the social media star had been knocked down, but the consequences of a proper punch meant Paul could not get up and taunt his opponent before the referee called the contest to a halt. As blood began to trickle from his lips, and a numbing throb radiated through his jaw, Paul finally understood how hard, exhausting, and dangerous boxing is at a respectable standard of competition.

A Far From Commanding Victory for the Victor

Anthony Joshua, it must be noted, was far from convincing during the bedlam. After his empty victory, he made a cut-throat motion that hinted at a precise and deadly finish when, in truth, Joshua had appeared exasperated for most of the fight. Instead of exuding intimidation or displaying an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had seemed tentative and awkward for almost five rounds.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a fundamental requirement in top-level boxing, shaped the result. Without the gas to flee any longer, and resorting to falling to the canvas as frequently as he could for a breather, Paul was left helpless by exhaustion. Joshua applied the brutal ending, but, until then, he had seemed a sad shadow of the fighter he had been in 2017.

The Winner's Post-Fight Assessment

"It wasn't the finest performance," Joshua conceded. "The end goal was to get Jake Paul, corner him and hurt him. That has been the plan, and that's what was on my mind. It took a bit longer than anticipated, but the straight right finally reached its destination."

Joshua commended Paul's bravery but he offered an explanation for his own stilted showing. "He came up against a real fighter tonight that's had a 15-month layoff," Joshua said, referencing his last defeat. "We shook off the cobwebs, and I am eager to roll into 2026."

What Comes Next: 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 called for a scrap against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will likely get his wish, but that matchup comes far too late in their careers. Both men are on the downward slope of the peak.

In contrast, the most compelling heavyweights in the world remain the Ukrainian master and the British prospect. Usyk remains the undoubted ruler of the weight class, after defeating both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. At the same time, Itauma is a rapidly ascending talent. The young British heavyweight likely have required less than half the amount of rounds that Joshua needed to send Paul into a suitably astonished state.

The Defeated Fighter's Unbowed Response

But the public receives what the public wants, and that undoubtedly means additional pitiful celebrity contests. Paul appeared genuinely satisfied and brash to have had his mandible fractured by a sledgehammer right. In the wee hours of Saturday morning, he posted an radiograph, with the two fractures marked in red.

That jokey nod to the Mexican superstar, a far greater boxer than Joshua but a equally faded force, showed that Paul's comic chutzpah is unbroken. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly locate someone else with whom he can earn north of $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before departing to the hospital, Paul spat 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 said: "I think my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A nice little beating from one of the greatest to ever step in the ring. I love this sport and I'm going to come back and keep on winning."