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Jake Paul's jaw dropped wide open, his eyes becoming wide, stunned circles as he sank to the mat in stunned disbelief following a pulverising right hand from Anthony Joshua. It looked as if Paul was trying to utter "Whoa!" as the force of the impact sank in to his scrambled senses.

"The fans didn't pay to see this rubbish," snapped the referee, summing up the dismal affair far more effectively than anyone else managed to.

Pinned in a neutral corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could not retreat or hold on to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the gravity of boxing became clear. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the shot that fractured his mandible in two separate places, Paul was caught in an utterly stunned moment.

So this is how it feels, and appears, to be hit hard by a real professional fighter, an Olympic gold medallist and former world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is certainly 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 would not be able to get up and waggle his tongue defiantly before the official waved the charade to a halt. As blood began to trickle from his lips, and a numbing throb radiated through his jawbone, Paul at last understood how difficult, grueling, and perilous boxing is at a decent level of competition.

A Far From Commanding Win for Joshua

Anthony Joshua, it must be noted, was not impressive amid the bedlam. After his empty victory, he made a cut-throat motion that suggested a precise and lethal execution when, in reality, Joshua had appeared exasperated for most of the fight. Instead of exuding intimidation or exhibiting an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had seemed hesitant and awkward for nearly five stanzas.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a basic essential in top-level boxing, dictated the result. Lacking the stamina to flee any longer, and reduced to falling to the canvas as often as he could for a rest, Paul was left helpless by fatigue. Joshua applied the brutal ending, but, up to that point, he had looked like a mournful shadow of the boxer he had been in 2017.

The Winner's Aftermath Comments

"That was not the best performance," Joshua conceded. "The end goal was to get Jake Paul, corner him and do damage. That has been the plan, and that's what was on my thoughts. It took a bit longer than expected, but the right hand finally found its target."

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

What Comes Next: Past Their Prime and New Talent

In the press conference that followed, a jovial Joshua attempted a woeful imitation of his domestic rival as he called for a scrap against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will probably have his way, 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 interesting big men in the world remain Oleksandr Usyk and Moses Itauma. Usyk is still the unquestioned king of the weight class, after defeating 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 number of rounds that Joshua required to knock Paul into a appropriately wowed state.

The Defeated Fighter's Defiant Reaction

But the public gets what the public wants, and that undoubtedly means more low-quality celebrity fights. Paul seemed truly satisfied and brash to have had his jaw broken by a sledgehammer right. In the wee hours of Saturday morning, he shared an X-ray, with the pair of breaks highlighted in crimson.

That lighthearted nod to the Mexican superstar, a much superior fighter than Joshua but a equally faded force, showed that Paul's brazen audacity remains undented. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will soon locate another opponent 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 canvas. It was another bleak summary of the evening as Paul mixed blunt truth with blood-flecked bullshit and said: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A proper beating from one of the greatest to ever step in the ring. I adore this sport and I'm going to return and keep on winning."