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Jake Paul's mouth gaped wide open, his eyes becoming huge glazed saucers as he sank to the canvas in shock and awe after a devastating right hand from the former champion. It looked as if Paul was trying to say "Wow!" as the severity of the blow sank in to his rattled senses.

"Those watching didn't pay to see this rubbish," snapped the referee, summing up the dismal spectacle far more effectively than any observer else managed to.

Pinned in a corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could not retreat or cling to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the gravity of boxing enveloped him. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the punch that fractured his mandible in two separate places, Paul was lost in an utterly stunned moment.

So that is what it is like, and appears, to be hit hard by a genuine boxer, an Olympic gold medallist and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is certainly the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the social media star had been knocked down, but the result of a clean punch ensured Paul could not rise and taunt his opponent before the referee called the contest over. As blood began to trickle from his mouth, and a dull ache radiated through his jaw, Paul at last grasped how difficult, grueling, and perilous boxing is at a respectable level of competition.

A Far From Commanding Victory for the Victor

Anthony Joshua, it should be stressed, was not impressive amid the bedlam. After his hollow victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that suggested a clinical and lethal execution when, in reality, Joshua had appeared exasperated for most of the fight. Instead of glowering with menace or displaying an iron certainty, Joshua had seemed tentative and awkward for almost five stanzas.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a basic essential in top-level boxing, shaped the result. Without the gas to flee any longer, and resorting to slipping to the canvas as often as he could for a breather, Paul was left defenseless by fatigue. Joshua delivered the brutal finish, but, until then, he had looked like a sad shadow of the boxer he was in 2017.

Joshua's Post-Fight Assessment

"It wasn't the best display," Joshua admitted. "The end goal was to catch 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 expected, but the right hand eventually found its target."

Joshua praised Paul's bravery but he added an explanation for his own labored performance. "He came up against a real fighter tonight that's had a 15-month layoff," Joshua said, mentioning his last defeat. "We dusted off the rust, and I am eager to head into 2026."

What Comes Next: Past Their Prime and New Talent

In the post-fight interview afterwards, a cheerful Joshua tried out a poor imitation of his domestic rival as he demanded a fight against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will likely get his wish, but that bout comes far too late in their professional journeys. Both men are on the downward slope of the peak.

In contrast, the most interesting heavyweights in the world remain the Ukrainian master and Moses Itauma. Usyk remains the undoubted king of the division, after defeating both Joshua and Fury twice. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rapidly ascending force. The youthful 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.

Paul's Defiant Reaction

But the public gets what the public desires, and that certainly means more low-quality celebrity contests. Paul seemed truly satisfied and cocky to have had his jaw broken by a sledgehammer right. In the early hours of Saturday morning, he posted an radiograph, with the pair of breaks highlighted in crimson.

That lighthearted nod to the Mexican superstar, a much superior fighter than Joshua but a similarly diminished presence, demonstrated that Paul's comic chutzpah is undented. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will soon locate someone else with whom he can earn north of $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before departing to the hospital, Paul expelled a streak of blood onto the canvas. It was one more grim symbol of the night as Paul mangled harsh reality 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 best to ever step in the ring. I love this sport and I'm going to return and keep on winning."