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Jake Paul's mouth gaped wide open, his expression turning to huge glazed saucers as he sank to the canvas in stunned disbelief after a pulverising right hand from the former champion. It appeared as if Paul was trying to say "Whoa!" as the severity of the impact sank in to his scrambled senses.

"The fans didn't spend money to see this crap," said the referee, encapsulating the sorry affair much more succinctly than anyone else managed to.

Trapped in a corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could not retreat or hold on to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the serious reality of the sweet science became clear. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the punch that fractured his mandible in two separate places, Paul was lost in an completely stunned moment.

So that is what it feels, and looks, to be hit hard by a real boxer, an Olympic gold medallist and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is certainly the word.

It was the fourth time the social media star had been knocked down, but the consequences of a clean punch ensured Paul would not be able to get up and waggle his tongue defiantly before the referee called the charade to a halt. As blood began to trickle from his mouth, and a numbing throb radiated through his jawbone, Paul at last understood how difficult, exhausting, and dangerous boxing is at a decent standard of competition.

An Unimpressive Impressive Victory for Joshua

Anthony Joshua, it must be noted, was far from convincing during the bedlam. After his hollow victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that hinted at a precise and deadly finish when, in reality, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for most of the fight. Instead of exuding intimidation or exhibiting an iron certainty, Joshua had seemed hesitant and awkward for nearly five rounds.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a fundamental requirement in top-level boxing, dictated the result. Lacking the stamina to flee any longer, and resorting to slipping to the deck as often as he could for a breather, Paul was left helpless by fatigue. Joshua applied the vicious ending, but, up to that point, he had looked like a sad imitation of the fighter he had been in 2017.

Joshua's Aftermath Assessment

"It wasn't the best performance," Joshua conceded. "The objective was to catch Jake Paul, pin him down and do damage. That has been the plan, and that's what was on my thoughts. It took a little more time than anticipated, but the right hand finally reached its destination."

Joshua praised Paul's courage but he added an explanation for his own stilted performance. "He faced a genuine competitor tonight that's had a fifteen-month layoff," Joshua said, mentioning his last defeat. "We shook off the rust, and I am eager to head into 2026."

What Comes Next: Past Their Prime and New Talent

In the press conference afterwards, a jovial Joshua attempted a poor imitation of his domestic rival as he demanded a fight against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will probably get his wish, but that matchup comes far too late in their careers. Both fighters are on the downward slope of the hill.

In stark contrast, the most interesting big men in the world are Oleksandr Usyk and the British prospect. Usyk is still the undoubted ruler of the weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury twice. At the same time, Itauma is a rising talent. The young British heavyweight likely have needed less than half the number of rounds that Joshua needed to knock Paul into a suitably wowed stupor.

The Defeated Fighter's Unbowed Reaction

But the public gets what the public wants, and that certainly means additional low-quality celebrity fights. Paul appeared genuinely satisfied and brash to have had his mandible fractured by a sledgehammer right. In the early hours of the next day, he shared an X-ray, with the two fractures marked in red.

That lighthearted nod to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a much superior fighter than Joshua but a similarly faded force, showed that Paul's brazen audacity is undented. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly locate another opponent with whom he can make north of $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before departing to the hospital, Paul expelled a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was another grim symbol of the night as Paul mixed blunt truth with gory bullshit and said: "I think my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A proper ass-whipping from one of the best to ever do it. I adore this sport and I'm going to come back and keep on winning."