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Jake Paul's mouth gaped agape, his eyes becoming huge glazed saucers as he collapsed to the mat in shock and awe after a pulverising right hand from the former champion. It looked as if Paul was trying to utter "Wow!" as the force of the impact registered to his scrambled senses.

"Those watching didn't spend money to see this garbage," snapped the referee, summing up the sorry affair much more effectively than any observer else could.

Trapped in a corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could not run or hold on to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the gravity of boxing enveloped him. Instead, as he tried to absorb the punch that broke his jaw in two distinct locations, Paul was lost in an utterly stunned moment.

So this is how it is like, and appears, to be hit hard by a real boxer, an Olympic champion and former world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is certainly the word.

It was the fourth time the social media star had been knocked down, but the consequences of a proper power shot ensured Paul could not get up and waggle his tongue defiantly before the official waved the charade to a halt. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a dull ache spread through his jawbone, Paul at last understood how difficult, exhausting, and perilous boxing is at a decent level of professionalism.

A Far From Commanding Victory for the Victor

Anthony Joshua, it must be noted, was far from convincing during the chaos. After his empty victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that suggested a precise and lethal finish when, in truth, Joshua had appeared exasperated for the majority of the fight. Rather than exuding intimidation or exhibiting an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had seemed tentative and crude for almost five stanzas.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a basic essential in elite boxing, shaped the outcome. Without the gas to escape any longer, and resorting to slipping to the deck as frequently as he could for a breather, Paul was rendered helpless by exhaustion. Joshua delivered the brutal ending, but, up to that point, he had seemed a mournful shadow of the fighter he was in 2017.

Joshua's Post-Fight Comments

"It wasn't the best performance," Joshua conceded. "The objective was to get Jake Paul, corner him and do damage. That has been the request, and that's what was on my mind. 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 excuse for his own stilted performance. "He faced a real fighter tonight that's had a fifteen-month layoff," Joshua said, mentioning his previous defeat. "We dusted off the rust, and I can't wait to roll into 2026."

The Future: Past Their Prime and Rising Stars

In the post-fight interview afterwards, a jovial Joshua tried out a poor impression of his domestic rival as he demanded a scrap against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will probably have his way, but that bout comes much too late in their careers. Both men are on the far side of the peak.

In stark contrast, the most interesting heavyweights in the world are the Ukrainian master and Moses Itauma. Usyk remains the undoubted ruler of the weight class, after defeating both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. At the same time, Itauma is a rapidly ascending talent. The youthful British heavyweight likely have needed fewer than half the number of three-minute periods that Joshua needed to send Paul into a suitably wowed stupor.

The Defeated Fighter's Unbowed Response

But the fans gets what the public wants, and that certainly means more pitiful crossover contests. Paul appeared truly satisfied and cocky to have had his mandible fractured by a hammer-like right. In the wee hours of the next day, he shared an radiograph, with the pair of breaks marked in red.

That jokey reference to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a much superior fighter than Joshua but a equally faded force, showed that Paul's comic chutzpah remains unbroken. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly find someone else with whom he can make more than $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before leaving for the hospital, Paul expelled a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was another grim symbol of the evening as Paul mangled harsh reality with gory bullshit and said: "I think my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A nice little ass-whipping from one of the greatest to ever step in the ring. I love this sport and I'm going to come back and keep on winning."