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Jake Paul's jaw dropped wide open, his eyes becoming wide, stunned circles as he collapsed to the canvas in stunned disbelief after a devastating 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.

"The fans didn't spend money to see this crap," snapped the referee, encapsulating the sorry spectacle much more succinctly than anyone else could.

Pinned in a corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could no longer retreat or cling to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the gravity of boxing became clear. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the punch that fractured his mandible in two distinct locations, Paul was caught in an completely stunned moment.

So that is what it feels, and looks, to be struck cleanly by a real boxer, an Olympic champion and former world heavyweight champion. "Wow" 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 punch meant Paul could not rise and taunt his opponent before the referee waved the charade over. As blood began to leak from his lips, and a numbing throb spread through his jawbone, Paul at last grasped how difficult, exhausting, and dangerous boxing is at a respectable standard of competition.

A Far From Commanding Victory for the Victor

Joshua, it should be stressed, was not impressive amid the chaos. After his empty victory, he made a cut-throat motion that hinted at a clinical and deadly execution when, in truth, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for the majority of the contest. Rather than exuding intimidation or exhibiting an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had appeared hesitant and awkward for almost five rounds.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a basic essential in top-level boxing, shaped the outcome. Without the gas to flee any more, and resorting to falling to the canvas as often as he could for a breather, Paul was left helpless by fatigue. Joshua delivered the vicious finish, but, until then, he had seemed a mournful shadow of the fighter he was in 2017.

The Winner's Aftermath Comments

"That was not the finest display," Joshua admitted. "The objective was to catch Jake Paul, corner him and do damage. That has been the plan, and that's what was on my thoughts. It took a bit longer than anticipated, but the right hand eventually reached its target."

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

What Comes Next: Faded Forces and New Talent

In the press conference afterwards, a jovial Joshua tried out a poor impression of his domestic rival as he demanded a scrap against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will likely have his way, but that matchup comes much too late in their professional journeys. Both men are on the downward slope of the hill.

In contrast, the most compelling big men in the world are the Ukrainian master and the British prospect. Usyk remains the undoubted king of the division, after defeating both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. At the same time, Itauma is a rapidly ascending talent. The young British heavyweight likely have needed fewer than half the number of three-minute periods that Joshua required to knock Paul into a suitably wowed state.

The Defeated Fighter's Defiant Reaction

But the fans receives what the public desires, and that undoubtedly means more low-quality celebrity contests. Paul seemed genuinely proud and brash to have had his jaw broken by a hammer-like right. In the early hours of Saturday morning, he posted an X-ray, with the pair of breaks marked in red.

That lighthearted reference to the Mexican superstar, a much superior fighter than Joshua but a equally faded presence, demonstrated that Paul's brazen audacity remains unbroken. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly find another opponent with whom he can make more than $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before leaving for the hospital, Paul spat a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was one more bleak symbol of the night as Paul mixed blunt truth with gory bravado and said: "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 love this shit and I'm going to return and keep on winning."