Anthony Joshua & Jake Paul Deliver a Regrettable Spectacle and the Most Troubling Part is There's More to Follow

Jake Paul's mouth gaped agape, his eyes becoming huge glazed saucers as he sank to the canvas in shock and awe following a devastating right hand from Anthony Joshua. It appeared as if Paul was attempting to say "Wow!" as the force of the blow registered to his scrambled senses.

Pinned in a neutral 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 punch that fractured his mandible in two separate places, Paul was caught in an completely dazed moment.

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

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been knocked down, but the consequences of a proper power shot ensured Paul would not be able to get up and taunt his opponent before the referee waved the charade over. As blood began to trickle from his mouth, and a dull ache spread through his jawbone, Paul finally grasped how hard, exhausting, and dangerous boxing is at a respectable level of competition.

A Far From Commanding Win for Joshua

Joshua, it must be noted, was not impressive amid the bedlam. After his empty victory, he performed a cut-throat motion that suggested a precise and deadly execution when, in truth, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for most of the fight. Rather than glowering with menace or displaying an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had appeared tentative and awkward for almost 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 resorting to slipping to the canvas as often as he could for a breather, Paul was rendered helpless by exhaustion. Joshua applied the brutal finish, but, up to that point, he had seemed a mournful shadow of the fighter he was in 2017.

Joshua's Aftermath Assessment

"It wasn't the finest performance," Joshua conceded. "The objective was to catch Jake Paul, corner him and hurt him. 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 target."

Joshua praised Paul's courage but he offered an excuse for his own stilted performance. "He came up against a real fighter tonight that's had a 15-month hiatus," Joshua said, referencing his last loss. "We dusted off the rust, and I can't wait to roll into 2026."

What Comes Next: Past Their Prime and Rising Stars

In the press conference afterwards, a jovial Joshua attempted a woeful impression of Tyson Fury as he called for a scrap against the currently retired 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 hill.

In contrast, the most compelling big men in the world remain Oleksandr Usyk and Moses Itauma. Usyk is still the undoubted king of the division, after defeating both Joshua and Fury twice. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rising talent. The youthful British heavyweight likely have required fewer than half the number of rounds that Joshua required to send Paul into a appropriately astonished stupor.

Paul's Unbowed Reaction

But the fans receives what the public desires, and that undoubtedly means additional low-quality celebrity fights. Paul appeared truly proud and cocky to have had his jaw broken by a sledgehammer right. In the wee hours of the next day, he posted an X-ray, with the two fractures highlighted in crimson.

That lighthearted reference to the Mexican superstar, a far greater fighter than Joshua but a equally diminished force, demonstrated that Paul's comic chutzpah remains 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 medical facility, Paul spat a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was one more grim summary of the evening as Paul mixed blunt truth with gory bravado and stated: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A nice little beating from one of the best to ever step in the ring. I love this shit and I'm going to come back and keep on winning."