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Jake Paul's jaw dropped agape, his eyes becoming huge glazed saucers as he sank to the mat in stunned disbelief following a pulverising right hand from the former champion. It appeared as if Paul was attempting to say "Whoa!" as the severity of the impact registered to his scrambled senses.

"The fans didn't pay to see this crap," said the referee, summing up the sorry spectacle much more effectively than any observer else managed to.

Pinned in a neutral corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could not retreat or cling to Joshua's legs like a forlorn little boy as the serious reality of boxing enveloped him. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the shot that broke his jaw in two distinct locations, Paul was lost in an completely dazed moment.

So this is how it is like, and appears, to be hit hard by a real professional fighter, an Olympic champion and former world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is indeed the word.

It was the fourth time the social media star had been sent to the floor, but the result of a clean power shot ensured Paul would not be able to get up and waggle his tongue defiantly before the referee waved the charade over. As blood began to leak from his lips, and a numbing throb spread through his jaw, Paul at last grasped how hard, exhausting, and perilous boxing is at a respectable level of professionalism.

A Far From Impressive Victory for the Victor

Anthony Joshua, it should be stressed, was far from convincing during the chaos. After his hollow victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that hinted at a clinical and deadly finish when, in reality, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for most of the fight. Instead of glowering with menace or displaying an iron certainty, Joshua had seemed hesitant and awkward for almost five rounds.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a fundamental requirement in elite boxing, shaped the result. Lacking the stamina to flee any longer, and resorting to slipping to the deck as frequently as he could for a rest, Paul was rendered defenseless by exhaustion. Joshua delivered the brutal ending, but, until then, he had seemed a mournful imitation of the fighter he was in 2017.

The Winner's Post-Fight Assessment

"That was not the best display," Joshua admitted. "The end goal 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 straight right finally reached its destination."

Joshua praised Paul's bravery but he added an excuse for his own labored performance. "He came up against a real fighter tonight that's had a fifteen-month hiatus," Joshua said, referencing his previous defeat. "We dusted off the cobwebs, and I am eager to roll into 2026."

What Comes Next: Faded Forces and Rising Stars

In the press conference afterwards, a cheerful Joshua attempted a woeful imitation of Tyson Fury as he called for a scrap against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will likely get his wish, but that bout comes far too late in their professional journeys. Both fighters are on the downward slope of the peak.

In contrast, the most interesting heavyweights in the world are the Ukrainian master and Moses Itauma. Usyk remains the undoubted ruler of the weight class, after defeating both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rising force. The young British heavyweight likely have needed fewer than half the amount of three-minute periods that Joshua required to knock Paul into a appropriately astonished state.

The Defeated Fighter's Defiant Reaction

But the fans gets what the public desires, and that undoubtedly means additional low-quality crossover fights. Paul appeared genuinely proud and cocky to have had his mandible fractured by a hammer-like right. In the wee hours of the next day, he shared an X-ray, with the two fractures marked in red.

That jokey 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 might not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly locate someone else with whom he can earn more than $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before leaving for the medical facility, Paul spat a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was another bleak symbol of the evening as Paul mangled harsh reality with blood-flecked bravado and said: "I think my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A nice little ass-whipping from one of the greatest to ever step in the ring. I adore this sport and I'm going to come back and keep on winning."