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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 devastating right hand from the former champion. It looked as if Paul was attempting to utter "Wow!" as the force of the impact registered to his rattled senses.

"The audience didn't spend money to see this rubbish," snapped the referee, encapsulating the dismal spectacle much more succinctly than any observer else managed to.

Pinned in a corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could not retreat or cling 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 punch that fractured his mandible in two separate places, Paul was lost in an utterly dazed moment.

So this is how it is like, and appears, to be struck cleanly by a real boxer, an Olympic champion and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is indeed the word.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been knocked down, but the consequences of a clean punch meant Paul would not be able to rise and taunt his opponent before the referee waved the contest over. As blood began to trickle from his lips, and a numbing throb radiated through his jawbone, Paul finally grasped how difficult, exhausting, and dangerous boxing is at a decent level of competition.

A Far From Commanding Victory for the Victor

Anthony Joshua, it must be noted, was far from convincing during the bedlam. After his empty victory, he performed a cut-throat motion that suggested a clinical and deadly execution when, in reality, Joshua had appeared exasperated for most of the contest. Instead of exuding intimidation or exhibiting an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had seemed hesitant and crude for nearly five stanzas.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a fundamental requirement in top-level boxing, shaped the result. Lacking the stamina to escape any longer, and resorting to slipping to the canvas as often as he could for a rest, Paul was rendered helpless by fatigue. Joshua delivered the brutal finish, but, up to that point, he had looked like a mournful imitation of the fighter he had been in 2017.

Joshua's Aftermath Comments

"That was not the best performance," Joshua conceded. "The end goal was to get Jake Paul, pin him down and hurt him. That has been the plan, and that's what was on my mind. It took a bit longer than anticipated, but the right hand finally reached its destination."

Joshua praised Paul's bravery but he offered an explanation for his own labored showing. "He faced a real fighter tonight that's had a 15-month hiatus," Joshua said, referencing his previous loss. "We dusted off the rust, and I can't wait to head into 2026."

The Future: Past Their Prime and Rising Stars

In the press conference afterwards, a cheerful Joshua tried out a woeful impression of his domestic rival as he demanded a scrap against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will probably get his wish, but that matchup comes much too late in their careers. Both men are on the downward slope of the hill.

In contrast, the most interesting heavyweights in the world are Oleksandr Usyk and Moses Itauma. Usyk is still the unquestioned king of the division, after defeating both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rising talent. The young British heavyweight would probably have needed fewer than half the number of three-minute periods that Joshua needed to send Paul into a suitably astonished stupor.

The Defeated Fighter's Unbowed Response

But the fans receives what the public desires, and that certainly means additional pitiful celebrity fights. Paul appeared genuinely satisfied and cocky to have had his jaw broken by a hammer-like right. In the early hours of the next day, he shared an X-ray, with the pair of breaks marked in crimson.

That lighthearted reference to the Mexican superstar, a far greater boxer than Joshua but a equally faded force, showed that Paul's brazen audacity is undented. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will soon find another opponent with whom he can earn more than $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before leaving for the medical facility, Paul expelled a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was one more grim summary of the evening as Paul mixed blunt truth with blood-flecked bullshit and said: "I think my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A proper ass-whipping from one of the greatest to ever step in the ring. I love this shit and I'm going to come back and continue winning."