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Jake Paul's mouth gaped agape, his eyes becoming huge glazed saucers as he collapsed to the mat in stunned disbelief following a pulverising right hand from the former champion. It appeared as if Paul was trying to utter "Whoa!" as the severity of the blow registered to his scrambled senses.

"Those watching didn't pay to see this rubbish," said the referee, summing up the sorry affair much more effectively than anyone else could.

Pinned in a corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could not retreat or cling to Joshua's legs like a forlorn little boy as the gravity of boxing enveloped him. Instead, as he tried to absorb the punch that broke his jaw in two distinct locations, Paul was caught in an completely stunned moment.

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

It was the fourth time the social media star had been sent to the floor, but the consequences of a proper punch ensured Paul could not rise and taunt his opponent before the referee called the charade over. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a numbing throb radiated through his jaw, Paul finally grasped how difficult, exhausting, and perilous boxing is at a decent standard of competition.

A Far From Impressive Win for the Victor

Anthony Joshua, it must be noted, was not impressive during the chaos. After his empty victory, he performed a cut-throat motion that suggested a clinical and lethal execution when, in reality, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for most of the contest. Rather than exuding intimidation or displaying an iron certainty, Joshua had seemed hesitant and awkward for nearly five rounds.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a fundamental requirement in elite boxing, shaped the result. Lacking the stamina to escape any more, and resorting to falling to the canvas as often as he could for a rest, Paul was left helpless by exhaustion. Joshua delivered the vicious ending, but, until then, he had seemed a mournful shadow of the boxer he was in 2017.

The Winner's Post-Fight Assessment

"It wasn't the best display," Joshua admitted. "The objective was to catch Jake Paul, pin him down 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 right hand finally reached its target."

Joshua commended Paul's courage but he added an explanation for his own stilted performance. "He came up against a real fighter tonight that's had a fifteen-month layoff," Joshua said, mentioning his last loss. "We shook off the cobwebs, and I can't wait to head into 2026."

What Comes Next: Past Their Prime and Rising Stars

In the press conference that followed, a jovial Joshua tried out a woeful impression of Tyson Fury as he demanded a scrap against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will probably have his way, but that bout comes far too late in their professional journeys. Both men are on the far side of the peak.

In contrast, the most compelling big men in the world are Oleksandr Usyk and Moses Itauma. Usyk remains the unquestioned king of the division, after defeating both Joshua and Fury twice. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rising force. The young British heavyweight likely have needed less than half the number of rounds that Joshua required to knock Paul into a appropriately astonished stupor.

Paul's Defiant Response

But the fans gets what the public desires, and that undoubtedly means additional pitiful celebrity fights. Paul appeared genuinely satisfied and brash to have had his jaw broken by a sledgehammer right. In the early hours of the next day, he posted an radiograph, with the two fractures marked in red.

That lighthearted nod to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a far greater boxer than Joshua but a similarly diminished presence, demonstrated that Paul's comic chutzpah remains unbroken. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will soon locate someone else with whom he can earn more than $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before departing to the medical facility, Paul expelled a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was another grim symbol of the evening as Paul mangled blunt truth with blood-flecked bullshit and said: "I think my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A nice little beating from one of the best to ever do it. I love this sport and I'm going to come back and continue winning."