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Jake Paul's jaw dropped agape, his eyes becoming huge glazed saucers as he collapsed to the canvas in shock and awe after a pulverising right hand from Anthony Joshua. It looked as if Paul was attempting to utter "Whoa!" as the force of the impact sank in to his scrambled senses.

"The fans didn't spend money to see this crap," snapped the referee, summing up the dismal spectacle much more effectively than any observer else managed to.

Pinned in a corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could no longer run or hold on to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the gravity of the sweet science became clear. Instead, as he tried to absorb the shot that broke his jaw in two distinct locations, Paul was lost in an completely dazed moment.

So this is how it feels, and looks, to be struck cleanly by a genuine boxer, an Olympic champion and former world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is certainly the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been sent to the floor, but the consequences of a clean power shot ensured Paul could not rise and taunt his opponent before the official waved the contest over. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a numbing throb spread through his jaw, Paul at last understood how difficult, exhausting, and perilous boxing is at a decent level of competition.

A Far From Commanding Win for the Victor

Joshua, it must be noted, was not impressive during the bedlam. After his hollow victory, he performed a throat-slitting gesture that suggested a precise and lethal execution when, in reality, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for most of the fight. Rather than exuding intimidation or exhibiting an iron certainty, Joshua had seemed hesitant and crude for nearly five rounds.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a basic essential in elite boxing, dictated the outcome. Without the gas to flee any more, and reduced to slipping to the canvas as frequently as he could for a rest, Paul was rendered helpless by exhaustion. Joshua applied the brutal ending, but, up to that point, he had looked like a sad imitation of the boxer he was in 2017.

Joshua's Aftermath Comments

"It wasn't the finest display," Joshua conceded. "The end goal was to catch Jake Paul, pin him down and do damage. That has been the request, and that's what was on my mind. It took a little more time than anticipated, but the right hand eventually reached its destination."

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

What Comes Next: Faded Forces and Rising Stars

In the press conference that followed, a cheerful Joshua attempted a woeful impression of his domestic rival as he demanded a fight against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will likely have his way, but that bout comes much too late in their professional journeys. Both fighters are on the downward slope of the hill.

In stark contrast, the most interesting big men in the world remain Oleksandr Usyk 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 rapidly ascending talent. The young British heavyweight would probably have required fewer than half the number of three-minute periods that Joshua needed to knock Paul into a appropriately astonished stupor.

The Defeated Fighter's Defiant Reaction

But the public receives what the public wants, and that certainly means more pitiful crossover contests. Paul appeared genuinely satisfied and cocky to have had his mandible fractured by a sledgehammer right. In the early hours of the next day, he posted an X-ray, with the pair of breaks highlighted in red.

That lighthearted reference to the Mexican superstar, a far greater fighter than Joshua but a equally diminished presence, showed that Paul's brazen audacity remains unbroken. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly find someone else with whom he can earn more than $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before leaving for the hospital, Paul expelled a streak of blood onto the canvas. It was one more bleak symbol of the evening as Paul mangled harsh reality with blood-flecked bullshit and stated: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A nice little beating from one of the greatest to ever do it. I adore this shit and I'm going to come back and keep on winning."