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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 after a pulverising right hand from Anthony Joshua. It looked as if Paul was attempting to say "Whoa!" as the severity of the blow registered to his scrambled senses.

"The audience didn't spend money to see this garbage," snapped the referee, summing up the sorry affair much more effectively than any observer else could.

Trapped in a neutral corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could not run or cling to Joshua's legs like a forlorn little boy as the serious reality of the sweet science enveloped him. Instead, as he tried to absorb the punch that fractured his mandible in two separate places, Paul was lost in an utterly stunned moment.

So this is how it feels, and appears, to be hit hard by a real professional fighter, 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 sent to the floor, but the consequences of a proper power shot ensured Paul would not be able to get up and taunt his opponent before the official waved the contest to a halt. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a dull ache radiated through his jaw, Paul finally understood how difficult, grueling, and perilous boxing is at a respectable standard of professionalism.

A Far From Commanding Victory for the Victor

Joshua, it should be stressed, was not impressive amid the chaos. After his empty victory, he performed a cut-throat motion that hinted at a clinical and deadly execution when, in reality, Joshua had appeared exasperated for most of the contest. Rather than glowering with menace or exhibiting an iron certainty, Joshua had seemed hesitant and crude for nearly five rounds.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a basic essential in elite boxing, dictated the result. Lacking the stamina to flee any longer, and reduced to falling to the deck as frequently as he could for a breather, Paul was rendered defenseless by exhaustion. Joshua applied the vicious ending, but, until then, he had looked like a sad shadow of the fighter he had been in 2017.

Joshua's Aftermath Comments

"That was not the best 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 finally reached its target."

Joshua praised Paul's bravery but he offered an explanation for his own labored performance. "He faced a genuine competitor tonight that's had a 15-month layoff," Joshua said, referencing his last defeat. "We shook off the rust, and I can't wait to roll into 2026."

The Future: Past Their Prime and Rising Stars

In the press conference afterwards, a jovial Joshua tried out a woeful impression of Tyson Fury as he demanded a scrap against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will probably get his wish, but that matchup comes far too late in their professional journeys. Both fighters are on the far side of the peak.

In contrast, the most interesting big men in the world are the Ukrainian master and Moses Itauma. Usyk is still the unquestioned king of the weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rapidly ascending talent. The young British heavyweight would probably have required fewer than half the number of three-minute periods that Joshua required to knock Paul into a suitably astonished state.

Paul's Defiant Reaction

But the public receives what the public desires, and that undoubtedly means additional pitiful crossover contests. Paul appeared truly proud and brash to have had his mandible fractured by a hammer-like right. In the wee hours of the next day, he posted an X-ray, with the pair of breaks highlighted in crimson.

That jokey nod to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a far greater fighter than Joshua but a similarly faded presence, showed that Paul's brazen audacity remains unbroken. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly find another opponent with whom he can make north of $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before leaving for the medical facility, Paul spat a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was one more grim summary of the evening as Paul mixed harsh reality with gory bravado and said: "I think my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A nice little beating from one of the best to ever do it. I love this shit and I'm going to return and keep on winning."