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Jake Paul's jaw dropped wide open, his expression turning to huge glazed saucers as he collapsed to the canvas in shock and awe after a pulverising right hand from Anthony Joshua. It looked as if Paul was trying to say "Whoa!" as the severity of the blow sank in to his rattled senses.

"Those watching didn't spend money to see this crap," snapped the referee, summing up the dismal affair far more succinctly than anyone else managed to.

Pinned in a corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could not run or hold on to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the gravity of the sweet science became clear. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the punch that fractured his mandible in two separate places, Paul was caught in an utterly stunned moment.

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

It was the fourth time the social media star had been sent to the floor, but the consequences of a proper punch meant Paul could not get up and waggle his tongue defiantly before the referee waved the charade to a halt. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a dull ache spread through his jawbone, Paul finally grasped how hard, grueling, and perilous boxing is at a respectable level of competition.

A Far From Commanding Victory for the Victor

Joshua, it must be noted, was far from convincing amid the bedlam. After his hollow victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that suggested a precise and lethal execution when, in truth, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for the majority of the contest. Rather than exuding intimidation or exhibiting an iron certainty, Joshua had appeared hesitant and awkward for almost five stanzas.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a fundamental requirement in elite boxing, shaped the result. Without the gas to escape any more, and reduced to falling to the canvas as frequently as he could for a breather, Paul was left defenseless by exhaustion. Joshua delivered the brutal ending, but, until then, he had looked like a mournful shadow of the boxer he had been in 2017.

The Winner's Post-Fight Comments

"That was not the finest display," 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 mind. It took a bit longer than anticipated, but the right hand eventually found its destination."

Joshua praised Paul's bravery but he added an excuse for his own labored performance. "He came up against a real fighter tonight that's had a 15-month layoff," Joshua said, referencing his previous defeat. "We shook off the cobwebs, and I can't wait to head into 2026."

The Future: Past Their Prime and Rising Stars

In the post-fight interview that followed, a jovial Joshua attempted a woeful impression of Tyson Fury as he demanded a fight against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will probably have his way, but that matchup comes much too late in their careers. Both fighters are on the downward slope of the peak.

In stark contrast, the most compelling heavyweights in the world are Oleksandr Usyk and the British prospect. Usyk is still the undoubted king of the weight class, after defeating both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. At the same time, Itauma is a rising talent. The young British heavyweight likely have needed fewer than half the number of three-minute periods that Joshua needed to send Paul into a appropriately astonished stupor.

The Defeated Fighter's Unbowed Response

But the fans gets what the public wants, and that undoubtedly means additional low-quality crossover fights. Paul appeared genuinely proud and brash to have had his mandible fractured by a hammer-like right. In the early hours of the next day, he shared an X-ray, with the two fractures marked in crimson.

That lighthearted nod to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a much superior fighter than Joshua but a similarly diminished presence, demonstrated that Paul's brazen audacity remains undented. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will soon locate someone else 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 canvas. It was one more grim symbol of the evening as Paul mangled blunt truth with blood-flecked bullshit and said: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A nice little beating from one of the best to ever do it. I adore this shit and I'm going to return and continue winning."