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Jake Paul's mouth gaped agape, his eyes becoming wide, stunned circles as he sank to the mat in stunned disbelief after a devastating right hand from Anthony Joshua. It appeared as if Paul was trying to utter "Wow!" as the force of the blow sank in to his rattled senses.

"Those watching didn't spend money to see this rubbish," snapped the referee, encapsulating the sorry affair much more effectively than any observer else could.

Pinned in a corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could not run or cling to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the serious reality of the sweet science enveloped him. Instead, as he tried to absorb the shot that fractured his mandible in two separate places, Paul was lost in an utterly stunned moment.

So this is how it feels, and appears, to be hit hard by a genuine 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 result of a clean power shot meant Paul would not be able to rise and taunt his opponent before the official called the contest to a halt. As blood began to leak from his lips, and a numbing throb radiated through his jawbone, Paul finally understood how difficult, exhausting, and perilous boxing is at a decent level of competition.

An Unimpressive Commanding Victory for the Victor

Joshua, it should be stressed, was far from convincing amid the bedlam. After his hollow victory, he made a cut-throat motion that hinted at a precise and lethal finish when, in truth, Joshua had appeared exasperated for the majority of the contest. Rather than exuding intimidation or displaying an iron certainty, Joshua had appeared tentative and awkward for almost five stanzas.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a basic essential in elite boxing, shaped the result. Lacking the stamina to escape any more, and reduced to slipping to the canvas as often as he could for a breather, Paul was left helpless by exhaustion. Joshua applied the vicious ending, but, until then, he had looked like a sad shadow of the fighter he was in 2017.

Joshua's Aftermath Comments

"It wasn't the finest display," Joshua admitted. "The objective was to get Jake Paul, corner him and hurt him. That has been the plan, and that's what was on my thoughts. It took a bit longer than anticipated, but the right hand eventually found its target."

Joshua praised Paul's courage but he added an excuse for his own labored performance. "He came up against a genuine competitor tonight that's had a fifteen-month layoff," Joshua said, referencing his previous defeat. "We dusted off the cobwebs, and I can't wait to roll into 2026."

What Comes Next: Faded Forces and Rising Stars

In the press conference afterwards, a jovial Joshua attempted a poor imitation of Tyson Fury as he demanded a scrap against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will likely have his way, but that matchup comes far too late in their careers. Both fighters are on the far side of the hill.

In stark contrast, the most compelling big men in the world are the Ukrainian master and Moses Itauma. Usyk remains the undoubted king of the division, after defeating both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. At the same time, Itauma is a rapidly ascending talent. The youthful British heavyweight would probably have required less than half the amount of rounds that Joshua required to send Paul into a suitably astonished stupor.

The Defeated Fighter's Defiant Response

But the fans receives what the public wants, and that undoubtedly means more low-quality celebrity fights. Paul appeared truly satisfied and brash to have had his jaw broken by a hammer-like right. In the early hours of Saturday morning, he shared an radiograph, with the pair of breaks highlighted in red.

That lighthearted nod to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a much superior fighter than Joshua but a similarly diminished presence, demonstrated that Paul's brazen audacity remains undented. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly locate someone else with whom he can earn north of $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before departing to the hospital, Paul spat a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was another bleak symbol of the night as Paul mangled harsh reality with gory bullshit and said: "I think my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A nice little beating from one of the greatest to ever step in the ring. I love this shit and I'm going to return and continue winning."