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Jake Paul's mouth gaped agape, his expression turning to wide, stunned circles as he sank to the mat in shock and awe following a pulverising right hand from the former champion. It looked as if Paul was attempting to say "Wow!" as the force of the impact registered to his rattled senses.

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

Trapped in a corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could no longer run or hold on to Joshua's legs like a forlorn little boy as the gravity of the sweet science enveloped him. Instead, as he tried to absorb the shot 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 hit hard by a genuine professional fighter, an Olympic champion and former world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is indeed the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been knocked down, but the result of a clean punch meant Paul would not be able to get up and taunt his opponent before the referee called the contest to a halt. As blood began to trickle from his lips, and a numbing throb spread through his jawbone, Paul at last grasped how difficult, grueling, and dangerous boxing is at a decent level of professionalism.

A Far From Commanding Victory for Joshua

Anthony Joshua, it must be noted, was not impressive during the chaos. After his empty victory, he performed a cut-throat motion that hinted at a precise and lethal finish when, in reality, Joshua had appeared exasperated for most of the contest. Rather than exuding intimidation or displaying an iron certainty, Joshua had appeared hesitant and awkward for almost five rounds.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a fundamental requirement in elite boxing, shaped the result. Without the gas to escape any more, and reduced to slipping to the canvas as frequently as he could for a rest, Paul was rendered defenseless by fatigue. Joshua applied the vicious ending, but, until then, he had seemed a sad shadow of the fighter he was in 2017.

Joshua's Post-Fight Assessment

"That was not the best display," Joshua admitted. "The end goal was to get Jake Paul, pin him down and hurt him. That has been the request, and that's what was on my thoughts. It took a bit longer than anticipated, but the right hand eventually found its target."

Joshua commended Paul's bravery but he offered an explanation for his own stilted performance. "He came up against a real fighter tonight that's had a fifteen-month layoff," Joshua said, referencing his previous loss. "We dusted off the cobwebs, and I can't wait to roll into 2026."

What Comes Next: Faded Forces and New Talent

In the press conference that followed, 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 matchup comes much too late in their careers. Both fighters are on the far side of the hill.

In contrast, the most compelling big men in the world remain Oleksandr Usyk and Moses Itauma. Usyk remains the undoubted king of the weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury twice. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rapidly ascending force. The young British heavyweight would probably have required less than half the number of three-minute periods that Joshua needed to knock Paul into a appropriately astonished state.

The Defeated Fighter's Unbowed Reaction

But the public receives what the public desires, and that undoubtedly means more pitiful crossover fights. Paul appeared genuinely proud and cocky to have had his mandible fractured by a hammer-like right. In the early hours of Saturday morning, he shared an X-ray, with the two fractures marked in crimson.

That lighthearted nod to the Mexican superstar, a much superior boxer than Joshua but a similarly diminished presence, demonstrated that Paul's brazen audacity remains unbroken. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will soon find someone else with whom he can earn more than $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before departing to the medical facility, Paul expelled a streak of blood onto the canvas. It was one more grim symbol of the evening as Paul mixed harsh reality with gory bullshit and said: "I think my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A proper ass-whipping from one of the best to ever step in the ring. I love this shit and I'm going to return and continue winning."