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Jake Paul's jaw dropped agape, his expression turning to huge glazed saucers as he sank to the canvas in shock and awe following a pulverising right hand from Anthony Joshua. It looked as if Paul was trying to say "Wow!" as the severity of the impact sank in to his scrambled senses.

"The audience didn't spend money to see this crap," said the referee, summing up the sorry spectacle far more succinctly than anyone else managed to.

Trapped in a corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could not run or hold on to Joshua's legs like a forlorn little boy as the serious reality of boxing enveloped him. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the shot that fractured his mandible in two distinct locations, Paul was lost in an utterly stunned moment.

So that is what it is like, and looks, to be struck cleanly by a real boxer, 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 knocked down, but the result of a clean power shot meant Paul would not be able to get up and taunt his opponent before the official waved the charade over. As blood began to trickle from his mouth, and a numbing throb spread through his jaw, Paul finally understood how difficult, grueling, and dangerous boxing is at a decent standard of professionalism.

An Unimpressive Impressive Win for Joshua

Anthony Joshua, it should be stressed, was not impressive amid the bedlam. After his hollow victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that hinted at a clinical and deadly finish when, in reality, Joshua had appeared exasperated for most of the contest. Rather than glowering with menace or displaying an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had appeared hesitant and crude for almost five rounds.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a fundamental requirement in top-level boxing, dictated the result. Without the gas to flee any longer, and resorting to slipping to the deck as often as he could for a breather, Paul was left defenseless by fatigue. Joshua applied the brutal finish, but, until then, he had looked like a mournful imitation of the boxer he had been in 2017.

Joshua's Post-Fight Assessment

"It wasn't the finest performance," Joshua conceded. "The end goal was to get Jake Paul, pin him down and do damage. That has been the plan, and that's what was on my mind. It took a little more time than anticipated, but the straight right eventually found its target."

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

The Future: Faded Forces and New Talent

In the post-fight interview that followed, a cheerful Joshua attempted a poor impression of his domestic rival as he called for a scrap against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will probably get his wish, but that bout comes much too late in their careers. Both men are on the downward slope of the peak.

In stark contrast, the most compelling big men in the world are the Ukrainian master and Moses Itauma. Usyk remains the unquestioned king of the weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rising talent. The youthful British heavyweight would probably have required fewer than half the number of rounds that Joshua needed to knock Paul into a suitably wowed state.

The Defeated Fighter's Unbowed Reaction

But the fans receives what the public desires, and that undoubtedly means more low-quality celebrity contests. Paul seemed truly satisfied and cocky to have had his mandible fractured by a sledgehammer right. In the wee hours of the next day, he posted an radiograph, with the two fractures highlighted in crimson.

That lighthearted nod to the Mexican superstar, a far greater fighter than Joshua but a similarly diminished force, demonstrated that Paul's brazen audacity is 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 leaving for the medical facility, Paul expelled a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was one more grim symbol of the evening as Paul mixed blunt truth with blood-flecked bravado and stated: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A nice little ass-whipping from one of the greatest to ever do it. I love this sport and I'm going to come back and keep on winning."