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Jake Paul's jaw dropped wide open, his expression turning to huge glazed saucers as he sank to the mat in stunned disbelief following a devastating right hand from Anthony Joshua. It appeared as if Paul was trying to utter "Whoa!" as the force of the impact registered to his rattled senses.

"The fans didn't pay to see this rubbish," said the referee, summing up the dismal affair much more succinctly than any observer else could.

Trapped in a corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could no longer retreat or cling to Joshua's legs like a forlorn little boy as the serious reality of the sweet science enveloped him. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the punch that broke his jaw in two separate places, Paul was lost in an utterly stunned moment.

So this is how it feels, and looks, to be hit hard by a genuine 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 proper punch meant Paul could not get up and taunt his opponent before the official called the charade to a halt. As blood began to trickle from his mouth, and a dull ache radiated through his jawbone, Paul at last grasped how hard, exhausting, and dangerous boxing is at a decent level of professionalism.

A Far From Commanding Victory for Joshua

Anthony Joshua, it must be noted, was not impressive during the chaos. After his empty victory, he performed a cut-throat motion that suggested a clinical and deadly finish when, in reality, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for the majority of the fight. Instead of glowering with menace or exhibiting an iron certainty, Joshua had seemed hesitant and awkward for almost five stanzas.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a fundamental requirement in top-level boxing, dictated the result. Without the gas to escape any more, and resorting to falling to the canvas as frequently as he could for a breather, Paul was left defenseless by exhaustion. Joshua applied the vicious finish, but, up to that point, he had looked like a mournful shadow of the fighter he had been in 2017.

The Winner's Post-Fight Comments

"That was not the finest display," Joshua admitted. "The objective was to catch 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 expected, but the straight right eventually reached its destination."

Joshua commended Paul's courage but he added an excuse for his own stilted performance. "He faced a real fighter tonight that's had a 15-month layoff," Joshua said, referencing his last loss. "We shook off the rust, and I can't wait to head into 2026."

What Comes Next: Past Their Prime and Rising Stars

In the press conference that followed, a jovial Joshua attempted a woeful imitation of his domestic rival as he called for a scrap against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will probably get his wish, but that matchup comes far too late in their careers. Both men are on the downward slope of the peak.

In contrast, the most compelling big men in the world remain the Ukrainian master and the British prospect. Usyk remains the undoubted king of the weight class, after defeating both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. At the same time, Itauma is a rapidly ascending talent. The young British heavyweight would probably have required fewer than half the amount of three-minute periods that Joshua needed to send Paul into a appropriately wowed state.

Paul's Defiant Response

But the public gets what the public desires, and that certainly means more low-quality celebrity fights. Paul seemed truly satisfied and brash to have had his mandible fractured by a sledgehammer right. In the wee hours of Saturday morning, he posted an radiograph, with the two fractures highlighted in crimson.

That lighthearted reference to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a much superior boxer than Joshua but a similarly diminished presence, demonstrated that Paul's comic chutzpah is unbroken. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly find another opponent with whom he can make more than $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before leaving for the hospital, Paul spat a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was another bleak summary of the night as Paul mangled blunt truth with gory bullshit and said: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A proper 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."