Jake Paul's mouth gaped agape, his eyes becoming huge glazed saucers as he collapsed 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 blow registered to his scrambled senses.
"The fans didn't pay to see this rubbish," snapped the referee, encapsulating the sorry affair much more effectively than anyone else managed to.
Trapped in a corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could no longer run or hold on to Joshua's legs like a forlorn little boy as the serious reality of the sweet science became clear. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the shot that fractured his mandible in two separate places, Paul was lost in an utterly stunned moment.
So this is how it feels, and appears, to be hit hard by a real professional fighter, an Olympic champion and former world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is indeed the word.
It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been sent to the floor, but the consequences of a clean power shot meant Paul could not get up and taunt his opponent before the official called the charade over. As blood began to trickle from his lips, and a dull ache spread through his jawbone, Paul at last grasped how difficult, grueling, and dangerous boxing is at a decent level of competition.
Joshua, it must be noted, was far from convincing during the chaos. After his empty victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that suggested a precise and lethal finish when, in reality, Joshua had appeared exasperated for most of the contest. Instead of exuding intimidation or displaying an iron certainty, Joshua had seemed tentative and crude for almost five rounds.
Paul's poor fitness, which is a basic essential in top-level boxing, shaped the outcome. Without the gas to escape any more, and reduced to slipping to the canvas as often as he could for a breather, Paul was left defenseless by exhaustion. Joshua applied the brutal finish, but, up to that point, he had looked like a sad shadow of the fighter he was in 2017.
"That was not the best performance," Joshua admitted. "The objective was to get Jake Paul, corner him 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 straight right eventually found its target."
Joshua commended Paul's courage but he offered an excuse for his own labored showing. "He faced a genuine competitor tonight that's had a 15-month hiatus," Joshua said, mentioning his last defeat. "We dusted off the rust, and I am eager to roll into 2026."
In the press conference that followed, a jovial Joshua tried out a woeful impression of his domestic rival as he called for a fight against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will probably have his way, but that bout comes far too late in their careers. Both men are on the downward slope of the peak.
In contrast, the most interesting big men in the world are the Ukrainian master and the British prospect. Usyk remains the unquestioned ruler of the weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. At the same time, Itauma is a rising talent. The young British heavyweight would probably have needed less than half the amount of rounds that Joshua needed to knock Paul into a suitably astonished state.
But the fans receives what the public desires, and that certainly means additional pitiful crossover contests. Paul seemed truly satisfied and brash to have had his mandible fractured by a sledgehammer right. In the wee hours of Saturday morning, he posted an X-ray, with the pair of breaks marked in red.
That jokey reference to the Mexican superstar, a much superior fighter than Joshua but a equally faded force, demonstrated that Paul's comic chutzpah remains undented. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will soon locate another opponent with whom he can earn more than $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 another grim summary of the night as Paul mixed blunt truth with gory bravado and stated: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A proper beating from one of the best to ever step in the ring. I love this shit and I'm going to return and continue winning."
Milan is een ervaren opticien met een passie voor visuele technologie en klantgerichtheid.
