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Jake Paul's jaw dropped wide open, his expression turning to huge glazed saucers as he collapsed to the canvas in stunned disbelief after a devastating right hand from Anthony Joshua. It appeared as if Paul was trying to say "Wow!" as the force of the impact registered to his scrambled senses.

"Those watching didn't pay to see this rubbish," snapped the referee, summing up the dismal affair much more effectively than anyone else managed to.

Trapped in a corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could no longer run or cling to Joshua's legs like a forlorn little boy as the serious reality of boxing became clear. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the shot that broke his jaw in two distinct locations, Paul was lost in an completely dazed moment.

So that is what it feels, and looks, to be struck cleanly by a real professional fighter, an Olympic gold medallist 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 ensured Paul would not be able to get up and waggle his tongue defiantly before the referee waved the charade to a halt. As blood began to trickle from his mouth, and a dull ache spread through his jawbone, Paul at last grasped how hard, exhausting, and perilous boxing is at a decent standard of competition.

A Far From Commanding Win for the Victor

Anthony Joshua, it should be stressed, was far from convincing during the bedlam. After his empty victory, he made a cut-throat motion that suggested a precise and lethal finish when, in reality, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for the majority of the fight. Instead of glowering with menace or exhibiting an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had seemed hesitant and awkward for almost five rounds.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a fundamental requirement in elite boxing, shaped the outcome. Without the gas to escape any more, and reduced to slipping to the deck as often as he could for a breather, Paul was rendered helpless by exhaustion. Joshua applied the vicious ending, but, up to that point, he had seemed a mournful shadow of the boxer he was in 2017.

The Winner's Post-Fight Assessment

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

Joshua commended Paul's courage but he offered an explanation for his own labored showing. "He faced a real fighter tonight that's had a 15-month layoff," Joshua said, referencing his last defeat. "We dusted off the rust, and I am eager to head into 2026."

What Comes Next: Faded Forces and New Talent

In the post-fight interview that followed, a jovial Joshua tried out a woeful impression of Tyson Fury as he called for a fight against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will likely get his wish, but that matchup comes far too late in their careers. Both men are on the far side of the peak.

In contrast, the most compelling heavyweights in the world remain Oleksandr Usyk and the British prospect. Usyk is still the undoubted ruler of the weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury twice. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rising talent. The young British heavyweight likely have needed fewer than half the number of rounds that Joshua needed to knock Paul into a appropriately astonished stupor.

Paul's Unbowed Reaction

But the fans receives what the public desires, and that certainly means additional low-quality celebrity contests. Paul appeared genuinely satisfied 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 two fractures highlighted in crimson.

That jokey reference to the Mexican superstar, a much superior boxer than Joshua but a similarly diminished presence, showed that Paul's brazen audacity is unbroken. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will soon find another opponent with whom he can make north of $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before departing to the hospital, Paul expelled a tracer of blood onto the canvas. It was one more bleak symbol of the evening as Paul mixed blunt truth with gory bravado and stated: "I think my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A proper beating from one of the greatest to ever do it. I adore this shit and I'm going to return and continue winning."