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Jake Paul's mouth gaped agape, his eyes becoming wide, stunned circles as he collapsed to the canvas in stunned disbelief following a pulverising right hand from the former champion. It appeared as if Paul was attempting to say "Whoa!" 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 dismal affair much more succinctly than any observer 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 boxing became clear. Instead, as he tried to absorb the shot that broke his jaw in two separate places, Paul was lost in an completely stunned moment.

So that is what it is like, and looks, to be struck cleanly by a genuine boxer, an Olympic gold medallist and former world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" 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 power shot ensured Paul could not rise 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 hard, exhausting, and perilous boxing is at a respectable level of competition.

An Unimpressive Impressive Win for the Victor

Anthony Joshua, it must be noted, was far from convincing during the chaos. After his hollow victory, he performed a throat-slitting gesture that suggested a clinical and deadly execution when, in truth, Joshua had appeared exasperated for most of the contest. Rather than exuding intimidation or displaying an iron certainty, Joshua had appeared tentative and awkward for almost five rounds.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a basic essential in elite boxing, dictated the result. Lacking the stamina to escape any more, and reduced to slipping to the canvas as frequently as he could for a rest, Paul was rendered helpless by exhaustion. Joshua delivered the brutal finish, but, until then, he had looked like a sad shadow of the boxer he had been in 2017.

Joshua's Post-Fight Comments

"It wasn't the best performance," Joshua admitted. "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 bit longer than expected, but the right hand finally reached its target."

Joshua commended Paul's bravery but he offered an excuse for his own labored showing. "He faced a real fighter tonight that's had a fifteen-month layoff," Joshua said, mentioning his previous loss. "We shook off the cobwebs, and I am eager to roll into 2026."

The Future: Faded Forces and New Talent

In the press conference that followed, a jovial Joshua tried out a poor impression of his domestic rival as he demanded a scrap against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will probably have his way, but that bout comes far too late in their professional journeys. Both men are on the far side of the hill.

In stark contrast, the most interesting heavyweights in the world are Oleksandr Usyk and Moses Itauma. Usyk is still the undoubted king of the division, having beaten both Joshua and Fury twice. At the same time, Itauma is a rapidly ascending talent. The youthful British heavyweight would probably have required less than half the amount of three-minute periods that Joshua needed to knock Paul into a suitably wowed stupor.

Paul's Unbowed Reaction

But the fans gets what the public wants, and that certainly means additional pitiful crossover contests. Paul seemed truly proud and cocky to have had his jaw broken by a sledgehammer right. In the early hours of Saturday morning, he posted an X-ray, with the pair of breaks marked in crimson.

That jokey nod to the Mexican superstar, a much superior boxer than Joshua but a similarly faded force, showed that Paul's comic chutzpah remains unbroken. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will soon find another opponent with whom he can earn more than $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before departing to the hospital, Paul expelled a streak of blood onto the ring floor. It was one more bleak summary of the night as Paul mangled harsh reality with blood-flecked bullshit and stated: "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 shit and I'm going to come back and continue winning."