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Jake Paul's jaw dropped wide open, his expression turning to wide, stunned circles as he sank to the canvas in stunned disbelief following a devastating right hand from the former champion. It appeared as if Paul was trying to say "Wow!" as the force of the impact sank in to his scrambled senses.

"The audience didn't spend money to see this crap," snapped the referee, summing up the dismal affair much more effectively than any observer else managed to.

Pinned in a corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could not 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 attempted to withstand the punch that broke his jaw in two separate places, Paul was lost in an completely dazed moment.

So this is how it feels, and looks, to be struck cleanly by a real boxer, an Olympic champion and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is indeed the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the social media star had been knocked down, but the consequences of a proper punch meant Paul could not get up and taunt his opponent before the referee waved the contest to a halt. As blood began to leak from his lips, and a numbing throb radiated through his jaw, Paul at last understood how difficult, exhausting, and dangerous boxing is at a decent standard of competition.

An Unimpressive Impressive Victory for the Victor

Anthony Joshua, it should be stressed, was far from convincing amid the bedlam. After his hollow victory, he performed a cut-throat motion that hinted at a clinical and lethal finish when, in truth, Joshua had appeared exasperated for the majority of the contest. Instead of glowering with menace or exhibiting an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had seemed tentative and crude for almost five rounds.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a fundamental requirement in top-level boxing, shaped the result. Lacking the stamina to flee any more, and resorting to falling to the canvas as frequently as he could for a rest, Paul was left helpless by exhaustion. Joshua delivered the vicious finish, but, until then, he had seemed a mournful shadow of the fighter he had been in 2017.

The Winner's Post-Fight Assessment

"It wasn't the finest performance," Joshua admitted. "The end goal was to catch Jake Paul, pin him down and hurt him. That has been the plan, and that's what was on my thoughts. It took a little more time than anticipated, but the straight right eventually reached its target."

Joshua praised Paul's courage but he added an excuse for his own stilted performance. "He faced a genuine competitor tonight that's had a 15-month layoff," Joshua said, mentioning his last defeat. "We shook off the rust, and I can't wait to head into 2026."

What Comes Next: Faded Forces and Rising Stars

In the press conference afterwards, a jovial Joshua attempted a woeful impression of his domestic rival as he demanded a fight against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will likely get his wish, but that bout comes far too late in their professional journeys. Both men are on the downward slope of the peak.

In stark contrast, the most interesting heavyweights in the world remain the Ukrainian master and the British prospect. Usyk remains the undoubted king of the division, after defeating both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rising talent. The young British heavyweight would probably have required fewer than half the number of rounds that Joshua required to send Paul into a suitably astonished stupor.

The Defeated Fighter's Unbowed Response

But the public gets what the public wants, and that undoubtedly means additional pitiful crossover contests. Paul seemed truly proud and brash to have had his jaw broken by a sledgehammer right. In the early hours of the next day, he posted an X-ray, with the pair of breaks highlighted in red.

That lighthearted reference to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a far greater boxer than Joshua but a equally diminished force, demonstrated that Paul's comic chutzpah is unbroken. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will soon locate another opponent with whom he can make more than $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before departing to the hospital, Paul spat a streak of blood onto the canvas. It was another bleak symbol of the night as Paul mangled harsh reality with blood-flecked bravado and stated: "I think my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A proper beating from one of the best to ever step in the ring. I adore this shit and I'm going to come back and continue winning."