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Jake Paul's jaw dropped wide open, his eyes becoming wide, stunned circles as he collapsed to the mat in shock and awe after a pulverising right hand from the former champion. It appeared as if Paul was attempting to say "Wow!" as the force of the blow registered to his scrambled senses.

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

Trapped in a neutral corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could not run or hold on to Joshua's legs like a forlorn little boy as the serious reality of boxing enveloped him. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the punch that fractured his mandible in two distinct locations, Paul was caught in an utterly dazed moment.

So this is how it is like, and appears, to be struck cleanly by a genuine professional fighter, an Olympic champion and former 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 result of a clean power shot ensured Paul would not be able to rise and waggle his tongue defiantly before the referee called the contest to a halt. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a dull ache spread through his jaw, Paul finally understood how hard, grueling, and perilous boxing is at a respectable level of professionalism.

An Unimpressive Commanding Victory for the Victor

Anthony Joshua, it should be stressed, was not impressive during the bedlam. After his empty victory, he performed a throat-slitting gesture that hinted at a clinical and deadly execution when, in truth, Joshua had appeared exasperated for most of the fight. Rather than glowering with menace or displaying an iron certainty, Joshua had seemed hesitant and crude for nearly five stanzas.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a basic essential in top-level boxing, dictated the outcome. Without the gas to flee any longer, and reduced to slipping to the deck as frequently as he could for a rest, Paul was rendered defenseless by exhaustion. Joshua applied the brutal ending, but, up to that point, he had seemed a sad imitation of the boxer he was in 2017.

Joshua's Post-Fight Assessment

"That was not the best performance," 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 bit longer than anticipated, but the right hand finally found its destination."

Joshua praised Paul's bravery but he offered an explanation for his own labored performance. "He faced a genuine competitor tonight that's had a 15-month hiatus," Joshua said, referencing his previous loss. "We shook off the cobwebs, and I am eager to roll into 2026."

What Comes Next: Faded Forces and Rising Stars

In the press conference that followed, a jovial Joshua attempted a woeful impression of Tyson Fury as he called for a scrap against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will probably have his way, but that matchup comes much too late in their careers. Both men are on the downward slope of the peak.

In stark contrast, the most compelling heavyweights in the world are the Ukrainian master and Moses Itauma. Usyk is still the unquestioned ruler of the weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rising talent. The youthful British heavyweight likely have required less than half the number of rounds that Joshua required to send Paul into a suitably astonished state.

The Defeated Fighter's Unbowed Response

But the public gets what the public desires, and that certainly means more low-quality celebrity contests. Paul seemed truly proud and brash to have had his mandible fractured by a hammer-like right. In the early hours of the next day, he posted an X-ray, with the pair of breaks marked in crimson.

That jokey nod to the Mexican superstar, a far greater fighter than Joshua but a equally faded presence, demonstrated that Paul's comic chutzpah is undented. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will soon locate another opponent with whom he can make more than $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before leaving for the medical facility, Paul expelled a tracer of blood onto the canvas. It was one more bleak summary of the night as Paul mangled blunt truth with blood-flecked bullshit and stated: "I think my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A nice little ass-whipping from one of the greatest to ever do it. I love this sport and I'm going to come back and keep on winning."