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Jake Paul's jaw dropped agape, his eyes becoming wide, stunned circles as he sank to the mat in shock and awe following a devastating right hand from the former champion. It looked as if Paul was attempting to utter "Whoa!" as the force of the impact registered to his rattled senses.

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

Pinned in a neutral corner of the ring midway through 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 distinct locations, Paul was lost in an utterly dazed moment.

So that is what it feels, and appears, to be hit hard by a real professional fighter, an Olympic champion and former world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is certainly the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been sent to the floor, but the result of a clean punch meant Paul could not get up and taunt his opponent before the referee called the charade to a halt. As blood began to leak from his lips, and a dull ache spread through his jaw, Paul finally understood how difficult, grueling, and perilous boxing is at a decent level of competition.

An Unimpressive Impressive Win for the Victor

Anthony Joshua, it must be noted, was far from convincing during the chaos. After his hollow victory, he performed a throat-slitting gesture that hinted at a clinical and deadly execution when, in reality, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for the majority of the fight. Rather than glowering with menace or exhibiting an iron certainty, Joshua had appeared hesitant and crude for nearly five rounds.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a fundamental requirement in elite boxing, dictated the result. Without the gas to escape any more, and reduced to falling to the deck as frequently as he could for a rest, Paul was left defenseless by fatigue. Joshua delivered the vicious finish, but, until then, he had looked like a mournful imitation of the fighter he had been in 2017.

Joshua's Aftermath Comments

"It wasn't the best performance," Joshua conceded. "The objective was to get Jake Paul, pin him down and hurt him. That has been the plan, and that's what was on my thoughts. It took a little more time than expected, but the right hand eventually reached its destination."

Joshua praised Paul's bravery but he offered an excuse for his own labored performance. "He faced a real fighter tonight that's had a 15-month hiatus," Joshua said, mentioning his previous defeat. "We dusted off the cobwebs, and I can't wait to roll into 2026."

What Comes Next: Past Their Prime and Rising Stars

In the post-fight interview that followed, a jovial Joshua tried out a woeful imitation of Tyson Fury as he called for a scrap against the currently retired 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 peak.

In contrast, the most compelling heavyweights in the world are the Ukrainian master and Moses Itauma. Usyk remains the undoubted king of the weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury twice. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rising talent. The young British heavyweight would probably have needed less than half the number of rounds that Joshua needed to knock Paul into a appropriately astonished stupor.

The Defeated Fighter's Defiant Reaction

But the fans receives what the public wants, and that undoubtedly means additional low-quality celebrity fights. Paul seemed genuinely satisfied and brash to have had his mandible fractured by a sledgehammer right. In the early hours of the next day, he posted an radiograph, with the pair of breaks highlighted in crimson.

That jokey reference to the Mexican superstar, a far greater boxer than Joshua but a similarly faded presence, showed that Paul's brazen audacity remains unbroken. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly find someone else with whom he can earn north of $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before leaving for the hospital, Paul spat a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was one more grim summary of the evening as Paul mixed harsh reality with blood-flecked bullshit and stated: "I think my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A nice little ass-whipping from one of the best to ever step in the ring. I love this shit and I'm going to return and continue winning."