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Jake Paul's mouth gaped agape, his eyes becoming wide, stunned circles as he sank to the mat in stunned disbelief after a pulverising right hand from Anthony Joshua. It looked as if Paul was trying to utter "Whoa!" as the severity of the impact sank in to his rattled senses.

"Those watching didn't spend money to see this crap," snapped the referee, encapsulating the sorry affair much more effectively than anyone else managed to.

Pinned 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 boxing enveloped him. Instead, as he tried to absorb the shot that fractured his mandible in two distinct locations, Paul was lost in an utterly dazed moment.

So this is how it feels, and appears, to be struck cleanly by a real boxer, an Olympic gold medallist and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" 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 clean power shot ensured Paul could not rise and waggle his tongue defiantly before the official called the charade over. As blood began to leak from his lips, and a numbing throb spread through his jawbone, Paul at last grasped how hard, grueling, and perilous boxing is at a decent level of competition.

An Unimpressive Commanding Victory for Joshua

Anthony Joshua, it should be stressed, was far from convincing during the chaos. After his empty victory, he made a cut-throat motion that suggested a precise and lethal finish when, in reality, Joshua had appeared exasperated for most of the contest. Instead of glowering with menace or displaying an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had seemed hesitant and crude for almost five stanzas.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a fundamental requirement in top-level boxing, dictated the result. Without the gas to flee any more, and reduced to slipping to the deck as frequently as he could for a rest, Paul was left defenseless by fatigue. Joshua applied the brutal ending, but, up to that point, he had seemed a sad shadow of the boxer he was in 2017.

Joshua's Post-Fight Comments

"It wasn't the finest display," Joshua admitted. "The end goal was to catch Jake Paul, pin him down 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 target."

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

The Future: Past Their Prime and Rising Stars

In the press conference afterwards, a cheerful Joshua tried out a woeful impression of his domestic rival as he called for 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 fighters are on the downward slope of the hill.

In contrast, the most interesting big men in the world remain Oleksandr Usyk and Moses Itauma. Usyk remains the undoubted king of the weight class, after defeating both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rising force. The youthful British heavyweight would probably have required less than half the number of three-minute periods that Joshua needed to send Paul into a appropriately wowed state.

Paul's Defiant Reaction

But the fans receives what the public desires, and that undoubtedly means additional low-quality celebrity contests. Paul seemed genuinely satisfied and brash to have had his mandible fractured by a hammer-like right. In the wee hours of Saturday morning, he shared an X-ray, with the pair of breaks highlighted in red.

That lighthearted reference to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a much superior boxer than Joshua but a similarly diminished presence, showed that Paul's brazen audacity remains unbroken. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will soon locate another opponent with whom he can make north of $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before departing to the medical facility, Paul spat a streak of blood onto the ring floor. It was another bleak symbol of the evening as Paul mangled blunt truth with blood-flecked bravado and said: "I think my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A nice little beating from one of the greatest to ever step in the ring. I love this sport and I'm going to return and continue winning."