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Jake Paul's jaw dropped wide open, his eyes becoming wide, stunned circles as he sank to the canvas in stunned disbelief after a devastating right hand from Anthony Joshua. It looked as if Paul was trying to say "Whoa!" as the force of the impact registered to his rattled senses.

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

Pinned in a corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could no longer run or cling to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the serious reality of boxing became clear. Instead, as he tried to absorb the shot that broke his jaw in two separate places, Paul was caught in an utterly stunned moment.

So that is what it is like, and looks, to be struck cleanly by a genuine professional fighter, an Olympic gold medallist and former world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is indeed the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the social media star had been sent to the floor, but the consequences of a clean power shot ensured Paul would not be able to rise and waggle his tongue defiantly before the referee called the contest to a halt. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a numbing throb spread through his jawbone, Paul at last understood how hard, exhausting, and perilous boxing is at a decent level of competition.

An Unimpressive Impressive Win for the Victor

Anthony Joshua, it should be stressed, was not impressive during the chaos. After his empty victory, he performed a cut-throat motion that hinted at a clinical and lethal execution when, in truth, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for the majority of the fight. Instead of glowering with menace or displaying an iron certainty, Joshua had appeared tentative and crude for nearly five stanzas.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a basic essential in top-level boxing, dictated the result. Lacking the stamina to flee any longer, and reduced 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 sad shadow of the fighter he was in 2017.

Joshua's Post-Fight Assessment

"It wasn't the finest performance," Joshua admitted. "The objective was to catch 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 straight right eventually reached its target."

Joshua praised Paul's bravery but he offered an excuse for his own stilted performance. "He came up against a genuine competitor tonight that's had a 15-month hiatus," Joshua said, referencing his previous loss. "We dusted off the cobwebs, and I can't wait to head into 2026."

The Future: Faded Forces and New Talent

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

In contrast, the most interesting big men in the world are Oleksandr Usyk and the British prospect. Usyk remains the unquestioned king of the weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury twice. At the same time, Itauma is a rising talent. The youthful British heavyweight likely have needed fewer than half the number of rounds that Joshua required to knock Paul into a suitably astonished stupor.

Paul's Defiant Reaction

But the public receives what the public wants, and that undoubtedly means additional low-quality celebrity fights. Paul appeared truly proud and cocky to have had his mandible fractured by a hammer-like right. In the wee hours of the next day, he posted an radiograph, with the two fractures marked in crimson.

That jokey reference to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a far greater fighter than Joshua but a equally faded presence, demonstrated that Paul's brazen audacity remains unbroken. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly find another opponent with whom he can make north of $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before leaving for the hospital, Paul expelled a streak of blood onto the ring floor. It was another bleak symbol of the night as Paul mixed harsh reality with gory bravado and stated: "I think my jaw is broken. It's certainly 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 continue winning."