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Jake Paul's jaw dropped agape, his eyes becoming huge glazed saucers as he collapsed to the canvas in shock and awe after a devastating 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 rattled senses.

"The audience didn't spend money to see this rubbish," snapped the referee, encapsulating the dismal affair much more succinctly than anyone else managed to.

Trapped in a corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could not retreat or hold on to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the serious reality of boxing became clear. Instead, as he tried to absorb the punch that fractured his mandible in two separate places, Paul was lost in an utterly dazed moment.

So this is how it feels, and appears, to be hit hard by a genuine professional fighter, an Olympic gold medallist and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is indeed the word.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been knocked down, but the consequences of a proper power shot meant Paul would not be able to get up and taunt his opponent before the referee waved the charade to a halt. 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 Impressive Victory for the Victor

Joshua, it must be noted, was not impressive amid the bedlam. After his empty victory, he made 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 glowering with menace or displaying an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had seemed tentative and crude for nearly five stanzas.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a fundamental requirement in top-level boxing, shaped the outcome. Without the gas to flee any more, and resorting to slipping to the deck as often as he could for a rest, Paul was rendered defenseless by fatigue. Joshua delivered the vicious ending, but, up to that point, he had seemed a sad shadow of the fighter he had been in 2017.

The Winner's Post-Fight Comments

"It wasn't the finest performance," Joshua conceded. "The objective was to catch Jake Paul, corner him and hurt him. That has been the plan, and that's what was on my thoughts. It took a little more time than expected, but the straight right eventually found its destination."

Joshua praised Paul's courage but he added an excuse for his own stilted showing. "He faced a real fighter tonight that's had a 15-month layoff," Joshua said, referencing his last loss. "We shook off the cobwebs, and I am eager to head into 2026."

The Future: Past Their Prime and Rising Stars

In the post-fight interview that followed, a cheerful Joshua attempted a woeful impression of his domestic rival as he called for a scrap against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will likely get his wish, but that bout comes far too late in their careers. Both men are on the far side of the hill.

In stark contrast, the most compelling heavyweights in the world remain the Ukrainian master and Moses Itauma. Usyk remains the unquestioned king of the division, having beaten both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rising force. The youthful British heavyweight would probably have needed less than half the number of rounds that Joshua needed to send Paul into a suitably astonished state.

Paul's Defiant Response

But the public gets what the public desires, and that undoubtedly means more low-quality crossover contests. Paul appeared truly satisfied and brash to have had his mandible fractured by a sledgehammer right. In the wee hours of the next day, he posted an radiograph, with the pair of breaks marked in red.

That jokey nod to the Mexican superstar, a much superior fighter than Joshua but a similarly faded presence, showed that Paul's comic chutzpah remains unbroken. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly find someone else with whom he can earn more than $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before leaving for the medical facility, Paul expelled a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was another bleak summary of the night as Paul mangled harsh reality with blood-flecked bullshit and said: "I think my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A nice little ass-whipping from one of the greatest to ever do it. I adore this sport and I'm going to come back and keep on winning."