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Jake Paul's mouth gaped wide open, his eyes becoming huge glazed saucers as he sank to the mat in stunned disbelief following a devastating right hand from Anthony Joshua. It appeared as if Paul was trying to utter "Whoa!" as the force of the blow sank in to his scrambled senses.

"The audience didn't spend money to see this rubbish," said the referee, encapsulating the sorry affair far more effectively than any observer else could.

Pinned in a corner of the ring in the middle of 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 attempted to withstand the shot that broke his jaw in two distinct locations, Paul was caught in an completely stunned moment.

So that is what it is like, and appears, to be hit hard by a real boxer, an Olympic champion and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is indeed the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the social media star had been knocked down, but the result of a proper power shot meant Paul would not be able to rise and waggle his tongue defiantly before the referee waved the contest over. As blood began to trickle from his mouth, and a dull ache spread through his jawbone, Paul finally grasped how hard, exhausting, and perilous boxing is at a decent level of professionalism.

A Far From Commanding Win for Joshua

Joshua, it must be noted, was not impressive amid the bedlam. After his empty victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that suggested a precise and lethal finish when, in reality, Joshua had appeared exasperated for most of the contest. Rather than exuding intimidation or displaying an iron certainty, Joshua had appeared tentative and awkward for nearly five stanzas.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a basic essential in top-level boxing, dictated the outcome. Lacking the stamina to flee any more, and resorting to slipping to the canvas as frequently as he could for a rest, Paul was rendered helpless by exhaustion. Joshua delivered the brutal finish, but, until then, he had seemed a sad shadow of the boxer he was in 2017.

Joshua's Post-Fight Assessment

"That was not the finest performance," Joshua conceded. "The end goal was to catch Jake Paul, corner him and do damage. That has been the plan, and that's what was on my thoughts. It took a bit longer than expected, but the right hand eventually found its destination."

Joshua commended Paul's courage but he offered an excuse for his own labored showing. "He came up against a genuine competitor tonight that's had a 15-month hiatus," Joshua said, mentioning his previous loss. "We shook off the rust, and I am eager to head into 2026."

What Comes Next: Faded Forces and New Talent

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

In stark contrast, the most compelling heavyweights in the world remain Oleksandr Usyk and the British prospect. Usyk is still the unquestioned king of the division, after defeating both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rising force. The youthful British heavyweight likely have required fewer than half the number of rounds that Joshua needed to knock Paul into a appropriately astonished stupor.

Paul's Unbowed Response

But the public gets what the public desires, and that undoubtedly means additional pitiful crossover contests. Paul appeared genuinely satisfied and brash 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 two fractures marked in red.

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

During his in-ring interview, before departing to the hospital, Paul spat a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was one more grim symbol of the evening as Paul mixed harsh reality with blood-flecked bullshit and said: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A nice little ass-whipping from one of the greatest to ever do it. I adore this sport and I'm going to return and continue winning."