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Jake Paul's jaw dropped agape, his eyes becoming wide, stunned circles as he collapsed to the canvas in stunned disbelief after a pulverising right hand from Anthony Joshua. It appeared as if Paul was attempting to utter "Wow!" as the force of the blow sank in to his rattled senses.

"Those watching didn't spend money to see this garbage," snapped the referee, encapsulating the sorry spectacle much more succinctly than anyone else could.

Pinned in a corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could not run or hold on to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the gravity of the sweet science became clear. Instead, as he attempted to withstand 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 appears, to be hit hard by a real professional fighter, an Olympic champion and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Wow" 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 would not be able to get up and taunt his opponent before the official waved the contest over. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a dull ache radiated through his jawbone, Paul at last understood how hard, grueling, and perilous boxing is at a decent level of professionalism.

An Unimpressive Impressive Win for Joshua

Anthony Joshua, it should be stressed, was far from convincing during the bedlam. After his empty victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that suggested a clinical and lethal finish when, in truth, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for most of the contest. Rather than glowering with menace or displaying an iron certainty, Joshua had appeared hesitant and crude for almost five stanzas.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a fundamental requirement in top-level boxing, dictated the outcome. Without the gas to escape any longer, and resorting to falling to the deck as frequently as he could for a rest, Paul was left helpless by fatigue. Joshua applied the brutal finish, but, up to that point, he had looked like a sad shadow of the fighter he had been in 2017.

The Winner's Aftermath Assessment

"That was not the best performance," Joshua admitted. "The end goal was to get Jake Paul, pin him down 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 straight right finally reached its target."

Joshua praised Paul's bravery but he offered an excuse for his own stilted performance. "He faced a real fighter tonight that's had a fifteen-month layoff," Joshua said, mentioning his last defeat. "We shook off the cobwebs, and I can't wait to roll into 2026."

What Comes Next: Past Their Prime and Rising Stars

In the post-fight interview afterwards, a cheerful Joshua attempted a woeful imitation of his domestic rival as he called for 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 contrast, the most interesting heavyweights in the world are the Ukrainian master and Moses Itauma. Usyk remains the unquestioned ruler of the weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. At the same time, Itauma is a rising talent. The youthful British heavyweight would probably have required less than half the amount of rounds that Joshua needed to knock Paul into a suitably astonished state.

Paul's Defiant Response

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

That jokey nod to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a much superior fighter than Joshua but a similarly faded presence, demonstrated that Paul's comic chutzpah remains undented. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly find another opponent with whom he can make more than $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before departing to the hospital, Paul expelled a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was another bleak summary of the evening as Paul mangled blunt truth with gory bravado and stated: "I think my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A proper ass-whipping from one of the best to ever do it. I love this sport and I'm going to come back and continue winning."