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Jake Paul's mouth gaped wide open, his expression turning to wide, stunned circles as he collapsed to the mat in stunned disbelief following a pulverising right hand from Anthony Joshua. It looked as if Paul was trying to say "Whoa!" as the severity of the impact sank in to his scrambled senses.

"The fans didn't pay to see this rubbish," said the referee, summing up the sorry affair much more effectively than anyone else managed to.

Pinned in a corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could no longer run or hold on to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the serious reality of the sweet science enveloped him. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the punch that fractured his mandible in two distinct locations, Paul was caught in an utterly stunned moment.

So this is how it feels, and looks, to be hit hard by a real boxer, an Olympic gold medallist and former world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is indeed the word.

It was the fourth time the social media star had been knocked down, but the result of a proper punch meant Paul could not rise and waggle his tongue defiantly before the official called the charade to a halt. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a numbing throb radiated through his jawbone, Paul at last grasped how hard, grueling, and perilous boxing is at a decent level of competition.

A Far From Commanding Win for Joshua

Anthony Joshua, it must be noted, was far from convincing during the chaos. After his hollow victory, he made a cut-throat motion that suggested a clinical and lethal execution when, in truth, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for the majority of the fight. Instead of glowering with menace or exhibiting an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had appeared tentative and crude for almost five rounds.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a fundamental requirement in elite boxing, dictated the result. Without the gas to flee any longer, and resorting to falling to the deck as frequently as he could for a rest, Paul was left defenseless by fatigue. Joshua delivered the vicious finish, but, until then, he had seemed a sad imitation of the fighter he was in 2017.

Joshua's Post-Fight Comments

"It wasn't the finest display," Joshua conceded. "The end goal was to catch Jake Paul, corner him and do damage. That has been the request, and that's what was on my thoughts. It took a little more time than expected, but the straight right eventually reached its target."

Joshua commended Paul's bravery but he offered an excuse for his own stilted performance. "He faced a real fighter tonight that's had a fifteen-month hiatus," Joshua said, referencing his previous loss. "We dusted off the rust, and I am eager to roll into 2026."

What Comes Next: Past Their Prime and New Talent

In the post-fight interview that followed, a jovial Joshua tried out a woeful imitation 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 much too late in their professional journeys. Both fighters are on the downward slope of the peak.

In stark contrast, the most interesting heavyweights in the world are Oleksandr Usyk and Moses Itauma. Usyk remains the undoubted king of the division, after defeating both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rising force. The youthful British heavyweight would probably have needed fewer than half the amount of rounds that Joshua needed to send Paul into a appropriately wowed state.

The Defeated Fighter's Unbowed Reaction

But the public receives what the public desires, and that certainly means additional pitiful crossover fights. Paul seemed genuinely proud and brash to have had his mandible fractured by a sledgehammer right. In the wee hours of Saturday morning, he posted an X-ray, with the pair of breaks highlighted in crimson.

That lighthearted reference to the Mexican superstar, a much superior fighter than Joshua but a similarly faded presence, demonstrated that Paul's comic chutzpah is unbroken. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly locate another opponent with whom he can earn more than $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before departing to the medical facility, Paul expelled a tracer of blood onto the canvas. It was another bleak symbol of the evening as Paul mangled blunt truth with gory bravado and stated: "I think my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A nice little beating from one of the greatest to ever do it. I adore this sport and I'm going to come back and continue winning."