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Jake Paul's jaw dropped wide open, his eyes becoming huge glazed saucers as he sank to the mat in stunned disbelief after a pulverising right hand from Anthony Joshua. It appeared as if Paul was trying to utter "Wow!" as the severity of the blow sank in to his rattled senses.

"The audience didn't spend money to see this rubbish," said the referee, summing up the sorry affair far more effectively than any observer else managed to.

Pinned in a corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could not run or hold on to Joshua's legs like a forlorn little boy as the gravity of boxing became clear. Instead, as he tried to absorb the shot that broke his jaw in two separate places, Paul was lost in an completely dazed moment.

So that is what it is like, and appears, to be struck cleanly by a genuine boxer, an Olympic champion and former world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is indeed the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been sent to the floor, but the consequences of a proper punch meant Paul would not be able to get up and taunt his opponent before the referee called the contest over. As blood began to leak from his lips, and a numbing throb radiated through his jaw, Paul at last grasped how difficult, exhausting, and perilous boxing is at a decent standard of professionalism.

An Unimpressive Commanding Victory for Joshua

Joshua, it should be stressed, was not impressive amid the bedlam. After his hollow victory, he performed a throat-slitting gesture that suggested a precise and lethal execution when, in truth, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for most of the contest. Instead of glowering with menace or exhibiting an iron certainty, Joshua had appeared tentative and crude for nearly five stanzas.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a fundamental requirement in elite boxing, shaped the result. Without the gas to escape any more, and reduced to falling to the deck as often as he could for a breather, Paul was left helpless by fatigue. Joshua applied the vicious finish, but, until then, he had seemed a mournful imitation of the fighter he had been in 2017.

Joshua's Aftermath Assessment

"That was not the finest performance," Joshua conceded. "The end goal was to catch 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 straight right eventually found its destination."

Joshua praised Paul's courage but he offered an excuse for his own stilted showing. "He faced a genuine competitor tonight that's had a 15-month hiatus," Joshua said, referencing his previous loss. "We dusted off the cobwebs, and I can't wait to head into 2026."

What Comes Next: Faded Forces and New Talent

In the press conference afterwards, a cheerful Joshua tried out a poor imitation of Tyson Fury as he called for a scrap against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will probably get his wish, but that bout comes much too late in their careers. Both fighters are on the far side of the hill.

In contrast, the most compelling heavyweights in the world remain the Ukrainian master and Moses Itauma. Usyk is still the undoubted king of the weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. At the same time, Itauma is a rising force. The youthful British heavyweight would probably have needed fewer than half the number of rounds that Joshua needed to knock Paul into a appropriately astonished state.

The Defeated Fighter's Unbowed Response

But the fans receives what the public desires, and that certainly means more pitiful celebrity contests. Paul appeared truly proud and brash to have had his mandible fractured by a sledgehammer right. In the wee hours of the next day, he shared an radiograph, with the pair of breaks marked in crimson.

That lighthearted nod to the Mexican superstar, a far greater fighter than Joshua but a equally faded presence, showed that Paul's brazen audacity is undented. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly locate someone else with whom he can earn more than $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before leaving for the hospital, Paul expelled a streak of blood onto the canvas. It was another grim summary of the evening as Paul mangled blunt truth with blood-flecked bravado and said: "I think my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A nice little ass-whipping from one of the best to ever do it. I adore this shit and I'm going to return and continue winning."