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Jake Paul's mouth gaped wide open, his eyes becoming huge glazed saucers as he sank to the canvas in shock and awe following a devastating right hand from Anthony Joshua. It appeared as if Paul was attempting to utter "Whoa!" as the severity of the impact registered to his scrambled senses.

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

Trapped in a corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could not run or hold on 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 broke his jaw in two distinct locations, Paul was caught in an completely dazed moment.

So that is what it is like, and looks, to be hit hard by a real professional fighter, an Olympic gold medallist and former world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is certainly the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been sent to the floor, but the consequences of a clean power shot meant Paul could not get up and taunt his opponent before the referee waved the charade to a halt. As blood began to trickle from his mouth, and a numbing throb radiated through his jaw, Paul finally understood how difficult, exhausting, and dangerous boxing is at a respectable standard of professionalism.

An Unimpressive Commanding Win for the Victor

Joshua, it should be stressed, was far from convincing during the bedlam. After his empty victory, he performed a cut-throat motion that hinted at a precise and lethal finish when, in reality, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for most of the contest. Instead of exuding intimidation or displaying an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had appeared hesitant and crude for almost five stanzas.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a basic essential in elite boxing, dictated the result. Without the gas to escape any longer, and reduced to falling to the canvas as often as he could for a rest, Paul was rendered helpless by fatigue. Joshua delivered the brutal ending, but, up to that point, he had looked like a mournful imitation of the boxer he was in 2017.

Joshua's Aftermath Assessment

"That was not the best performance," Joshua conceded. "The objective was to get Jake Paul, pin him down and do damage. That has been the request, and that's what was on my thoughts. It took a little more time than anticipated, but the right hand eventually found its target."

Joshua praised Paul's bravery but he offered an excuse for his own stilted performance. "He came up against a real fighter tonight that's had a fifteen-month hiatus," Joshua said, mentioning his last loss. "We shook off the cobwebs, and I can't wait to head into 2026."

The Future: Past Their Prime and Rising Stars

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

In stark contrast, the most interesting big men in the world remain the Ukrainian master and the British prospect. Usyk is still the unquestioned king of the weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rising talent. The youthful British heavyweight likely have needed fewer than half the amount of rounds that Joshua needed to send Paul into a suitably wowed stupor.

The Defeated Fighter's Unbowed Response

But the fans gets what the public desires, and that undoubtedly means more pitiful celebrity contests. Paul seemed truly proud and brash to have had his mandible fractured by a hammer-like right. In the early hours of the next day, he posted an radiograph, with the two fractures highlighted in crimson.

That lighthearted nod to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a much superior fighter than Joshua but a equally faded presence, showed that Paul's comic chutzpah remains unbroken. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly locate another opponent with whom he can earn north of $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before leaving for the hospital, Paul spat a tracer of blood onto the canvas. It was another grim symbol of the evening as Paul mangled harsh reality with blood-flecked bravado and said: "I think 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 shit and I'm going to come back and continue winning."