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Jake Paul's jaw dropped wide open, his eyes becoming wide, stunned circles as he sank to the canvas in shock and awe following a devastating right hand from the former champion. It looked as if Paul was trying to utter "Whoa!" as the severity of the blow registered to his scrambled senses.

"The audience didn't pay to see this rubbish," said the referee, summing up the sorry affair far more succinctly than any observer else managed to.

Trapped in a neutral corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could not retreat or cling to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the serious reality of the sweet science enveloped him. Instead, as he tried to absorb the punch that fractured his mandible in two separate places, Paul was lost in an completely stunned moment.

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

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been sent to the floor, but the result of a clean punch ensured Paul would not be able to rise and taunt his opponent before the referee waved the charade over. As blood began to trickle from his mouth, and a numbing throb spread through his jaw, Paul finally grasped how hard, grueling, and dangerous boxing is at a respectable standard of professionalism.

An Unimpressive Commanding Win for Joshua

Joshua, it should be stressed, was not impressive during the chaos. After his hollow victory, he performed a throat-slitting gesture that suggested a clinical and lethal finish when, in reality, Joshua had appeared exasperated for most of the fight. Instead of glowering with menace or exhibiting an iron certainty, Joshua had seemed tentative and awkward for almost five rounds.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a basic essential in top-level boxing, dictated the result. Without the gas to escape any longer, and resorting to slipping to the deck as frequently as he could for a rest, Paul was left defenseless by fatigue. Joshua applied the vicious ending, but, until then, he had looked like a mournful shadow of the boxer he was in 2017.

Joshua's Aftermath Assessment

"That was not the best performance," Joshua admitted. "The end goal was to catch Jake Paul, corner him and hurt him. That has been the request, and that's what was on my mind. It took a bit longer than expected, but the straight right eventually found its target."

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

What Comes Next: Faded Forces and Rising Stars

In the post-fight interview that followed, a jovial Joshua attempted a woeful impression of his domestic rival as he demanded a scrap against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will probably get his wish, but that matchup comes far too late in their professional journeys. Both men are on the downward slope of the hill.

In stark contrast, the most compelling big men in the world remain the Ukrainian master and the British prospect. Usyk is still the unquestioned ruler of the division, having beaten both Joshua and Fury twice. At the same time, Itauma is a rapidly ascending talent. The youthful British heavyweight likely have required less than half the amount of rounds that Joshua needed to knock Paul into a appropriately astonished state.

Paul's Unbowed Reaction

But the public gets what the public wants, and that undoubtedly means additional low-quality crossover contests. Paul seemed genuinely satisfied and brash to have had his mandible fractured by a sledgehammer right. In the early hours of the next day, he posted an radiograph, with the pair of breaks highlighted in crimson.

That lighthearted reference to the Mexican superstar, a far greater boxer than Joshua but a similarly faded force, demonstrated that Paul's comic chutzpah is undented. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will soon locate someone else with whom he can earn north of $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before leaving for the medical facility, Paul spat a tracer of blood onto the canvas. It was one more grim symbol of the night as Paul mixed blunt truth with blood-flecked bullshit and stated: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A proper ass-whipping from one of the greatest to ever step in the ring. I adore this sport and I'm going to return and continue winning."