Anthony Joshua & Paul Produce a Regrettable Display and the Most Troubling Part is More is to Come

Jake Paul's jaw dropped agape, his expression turning to wide, stunned circles as he collapsed to the mat in stunned disbelief following a devastating right hand from the former champion. It appeared as if Paul was trying to say "Whoa!" as the force of the blow registered to his rattled senses.

Pinned in a corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could no longer run or cling to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the gravity of the sweet science enveloped him. Instead, as he tried to absorb the punch that broke his jaw in two distinct locations, Paul was lost in an utterly dazed moment.

So this is how it is like, and appears, to be struck cleanly by a real boxer, an Olympic champion and former world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is certainly the word.

It was the fourth time the social media star had been knocked down, but the result of a clean punch meant Paul would not be able to get up and waggle his tongue defiantly before the referee called the charade over. As blood began to trickle from his mouth, and a dull ache spread through his jawbone, Paul finally understood how difficult, grueling, and perilous boxing is at a decent level of competition.

A Far From Commanding Win for the Victor

Joshua, it should be stressed, was far from convincing amid the bedlam. After his hollow victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that suggested a precise and lethal finish when, in truth, Joshua had appeared exasperated for most of the contest. Rather than glowering with menace or displaying an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had seemed tentative and crude for nearly five stanzas.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a fundamental requirement in top-level boxing, dictated the result. Without the gas to flee any longer, and reduced to slipping to the deck as frequently as he could for a breather, Paul was rendered defenseless by fatigue. Joshua applied the brutal finish, but, up to that point, he had seemed a sad imitation of the fighter he had been in 2017.

Joshua's Post-Fight Comments

"It wasn't the best 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 mind. It took a bit longer than anticipated, but the right hand eventually found its target."

Joshua commended Paul's bravery but he added an explanation for his own stilted performance. "He came up against a real fighter tonight that's had a fifteen-month layoff," Joshua said, mentioning his previous defeat. "We dusted off the cobwebs, and I am eager to roll into 2026."

The Future: Faded Forces and New Talent

In the post-fight interview afterwards, a jovial Joshua attempted a poor imitation of his domestic rival as he demanded a scrap against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will probably have his way, but that matchup comes far too late in their careers. Both fighters are on the far side of the hill.

In stark contrast, the most interesting big men in the world remain Oleksandr Usyk and the British prospect. Usyk remains the undoubted ruler of the weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury twice. At the same time, Itauma is a rising talent. The young British heavyweight would probably have required less than half the amount of rounds that Joshua required to send Paul into a appropriately wowed state.

Paul's Unbowed Response

But the public gets what the public wants, and that undoubtedly means additional low-quality celebrity contests. Paul appeared genuinely proud and brash to have had his mandible fractured by a hammer-like right. In the early hours of the next day, he shared an radiograph, with the two fractures marked in crimson.

That jokey nod to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a far greater fighter than Joshua but a equally faded force, demonstrated that Paul's comic chutzpah remains unbroken. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will soon find someone else with whom he can make north of $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before leaving for the medical facility, Paul spat a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was another grim symbol of the evening as Paul mangled harsh reality with blood-flecked bravado and said: "I think my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A proper 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."