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Jake Paul's mouth gaped agape, his eyes becoming wide, stunned circles as he collapsed to the canvas in shock and awe after a pulverising right hand from Anthony Joshua. It looked as if Paul was trying to say "Wow!" as the severity of the blow sank in to his rattled senses.

"Those watching didn't pay to see this rubbish," snapped the referee, summing up the dismal spectacle far more succinctly than any observer else managed to.

Trapped in a corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could not run or cling to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the serious reality of boxing enveloped him. Instead, as he tried to absorb the punch that broke his jaw in two distinct locations, Paul was lost in an completely stunned moment.

So that is what it feels, and looks, to be hit hard by a genuine boxer, an Olympic champion and former world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is certainly the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the social media star had been sent to the floor, but the consequences of a clean punch meant Paul could not rise and taunt his opponent before the official waved the charade over. As blood began to trickle from his lips, and a dull ache radiated through his jaw, Paul finally grasped how hard, exhausting, and dangerous boxing is at a decent level of professionalism.

A Far From Impressive Win for Joshua

Anthony Joshua, it should be stressed, was not impressive during the bedlam. After his hollow victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that hinted at a clinical and lethal finish when, in truth, Joshua had appeared exasperated for the majority of the fight. Instead of exuding intimidation or displaying an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had appeared tentative and crude for almost five rounds.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a basic essential in elite boxing, shaped the result. Without the gas 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 boxer he had been in 2017.

The Winner's Aftermath Comments

"That was not the finest performance," Joshua conceded. "The objective was to catch Jake Paul, corner him 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 finally reached its destination."

Joshua praised Paul's bravery but he added an explanation for his own stilted showing. "He came up against a real fighter tonight that's had a fifteen-month hiatus," Joshua said, mentioning his last loss. "We shook off the cobwebs, and I can't wait to head into 2026."

The Future: Faded Forces and Rising Stars

In the press conference that followed, a jovial Joshua tried out a woeful impression of Tyson Fury as he called for a fight against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will probably have his way, but that matchup comes much too late in their professional journeys. Both fighters are on the downward slope of the peak.

In stark contrast, the most interesting heavyweights in the world are the Ukrainian master and Moses Itauma. Usyk remains the undoubted ruler of the weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury twice. At the same time, Itauma is a rising talent. The young British heavyweight would probably have required less than half the amount of rounds that Joshua required to knock Paul into a appropriately astonished state.

The Defeated Fighter's Defiant Reaction

But the public gets what the public wants, and that certainly means additional pitiful celebrity fights. Paul seemed truly proud and cocky to have had his jaw broken by a sledgehammer right. In the early hours of the next day, he shared an radiograph, with the pair of breaks marked in red.

That lighthearted reference to the Mexican superstar, a much superior fighter than Joshua but a equally diminished presence, demonstrated that Paul's brazen audacity remains unbroken. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will soon locate someone else with whom he can make more than $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before departing to the hospital, Paul expelled a streak of blood onto the ring floor. It was one more grim symbol of the evening as Paul mangled blunt truth with blood-flecked bullshit and said: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's certainly 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 come back and continue winning."