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

"Those watching didn't spend money to see this crap," snapped the referee, summing up the dismal spectacle much more succinctly than anyone else managed to.

Pinned in a neutral corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could no longer retreat or cling to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the gravity of boxing enveloped him. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the punch that fractured his mandible in two separate places, Paul was lost in an utterly dazed moment.

So that is what it is like, and appears, to be struck cleanly by a real professional fighter, an Olympic gold medallist and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is certainly the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been knocked down, but the consequences of a proper punch ensured Paul could not get up and waggle his tongue defiantly before the referee waved the contest over. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a numbing throb radiated through his jawbone, Paul finally grasped how hard, exhausting, and dangerous boxing is at a respectable standard of competition.

A Far From Impressive Win for Joshua

Anthony Joshua, it must be noted, was not impressive amid the bedlam. After his empty victory, he performed a cut-throat motion that hinted at a clinical and deadly execution when, in reality, Joshua had appeared exasperated for the majority of the fight. Instead of exuding intimidation or exhibiting an iron certainty, Joshua had seemed hesitant and crude for nearly five rounds.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a basic essential in top-level boxing, dictated the result. Without the gas to flee any longer, and resorting to falling to the deck as frequently as he could for a breather, Paul was rendered helpless by fatigue. Joshua delivered the brutal ending, but, until then, he had seemed a sad imitation of the fighter he was in 2017.

The Winner's Aftermath Comments

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

Joshua commended Paul's bravery but he added an explanation for his own stilted showing. "He faced a genuine competitor tonight that's had a fifteen-month hiatus," Joshua said, referencing his previous defeat. "We shook off the rust, and I can't wait to roll into 2026."

What Comes Next: Faded Forces and Rising Stars

In the post-fight interview afterwards, a jovial Joshua attempted a poor impression of his domestic rival as he demanded a fight against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will probably have his way, but that matchup comes far too late in their careers. Both men are on the far side of the hill.

In stark 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, after defeating both Joshua and Fury twice. At the same time, Itauma is a rapidly ascending talent. The young British heavyweight would probably have needed less than half the number of three-minute periods that Joshua needed to send Paul into a appropriately wowed stupor.

Paul's Defiant Response

But the public receives what the public desires, and that certainly means additional low-quality celebrity contests. Paul appeared truly satisfied and brash to have had his mandible fractured by a sledgehammer right. In the early hours of the next day, he shared an X-ray, with the two fractures marked in red.

That lighthearted nod to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a far greater boxer than Joshua but a equally diminished force, showed that Paul's comic chutzpah is unbroken. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly locate someone else with whom he can make more than $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before leaving for the hospital, Paul spat a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was another bleak summary of the evening as Paul mixed harsh reality with blood-flecked 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."