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

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

Trapped in a corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could not retreat or hold on to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the serious reality of the sweet science became clear. Instead, as he tried to absorb the shot that fractured his mandible in two separate places, Paul was caught in an completely stunned moment.

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

It was the fourth time the social media star had been sent to the floor, but the consequences of a proper punch meant Paul could not get up and waggle his tongue defiantly before the referee waved the charade to a halt. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a dull ache radiated through his jaw, Paul finally grasped how difficult, exhausting, and dangerous boxing is at a decent level of professionalism.

A Far From Impressive Victory for the Victor

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 deadly execution when, in truth, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for most of the fight. Rather than exuding intimidation or displaying an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had seemed tentative and crude for almost five rounds.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a basic essential in top-level boxing, shaped the result. Lacking the stamina to flee any longer, and reduced to slipping to the deck as often as he could for a breather, Paul was left helpless by exhaustion. Joshua applied the brutal ending, but, until then, he had seemed a mournful shadow of the boxer he was in 2017.

Joshua's Post-Fight Comments

"It wasn't the best performance," Joshua conceded. "The end goal was to get Jake Paul, corner him and hurt him. That has been the request, and that's what was on my thoughts. It took a bit longer than expected, but the straight right finally reached its target."

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

The Future: Past Their Prime and New Talent

In the press conference afterwards, a jovial Joshua tried out a poor imitation of his domestic rival as he demanded a scrap against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will probably get his wish, 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 remain the Ukrainian master and the British prospect. Usyk remains the unquestioned ruler of the weight class, after defeating both Joshua and Fury twice. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rapidly ascending force. The young British heavyweight likely have needed fewer than half the amount of three-minute periods that Joshua required to send Paul into a appropriately astonished stupor.

The Defeated Fighter's Unbowed Reaction

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

That lighthearted nod to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a much superior boxer than Joshua but a equally faded presence, showed that Paul's brazen audacity is undented. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will soon find someone else with whom he can earn more than $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before departing to the hospital, Paul expelled a tracer of blood onto the canvas. It was one more bleak symbol of the evening as Paul mixed harsh reality with gory bullshit and said: "I think my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A nice little beating from one of the greatest to ever do it. I love this sport and I'm going to return and continue winning."