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Jake Paul's mouth gaped agape, his expression turning to wide, stunned circles as he sank to the mat in stunned disbelief following a devastating right hand from Anthony Joshua. It appeared as if Paul was attempting to say "Whoa!" as the force of the blow registered to his rattled senses.

"Those watching didn't spend money to see this crap," said the referee, summing up the dismal affair much more effectively than any observer else could.

Pinned in a neutral corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could no longer run 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 that is what it is like, and appears, to be hit hard by a real boxer, an Olympic champion and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is certainly the word.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been sent to the floor, but the consequences of a clean power shot ensured Paul would not be able to get up and waggle his tongue defiantly before the referee waved the contest to a halt. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a numbing throb radiated through his jawbone, Paul finally grasped how hard, exhausting, and perilous boxing is at a decent standard of professionalism.

A Far From Impressive Win for Joshua

Anthony Joshua, it should be stressed, was far from convincing during the chaos. After his empty victory, he performed a throat-slitting gesture that suggested a precise and lethal execution when, in reality, Joshua had appeared exasperated for the majority of the fight. Rather than glowering with menace or displaying an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had appeared tentative and awkward for nearly five rounds.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a fundamental requirement in top-level boxing, dictated the result. Without the gas to flee any more, and resorting to falling to the canvas as frequently as he could for a rest, Paul was left defenseless by fatigue. Joshua applied the vicious ending, but, until then, he had seemed a sad 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 thoughts. It took a bit longer than expected, but the straight right eventually reached its target."

Joshua praised Paul's bravery but he offered an explanation for his own labored showing. "He came up against a real fighter tonight that's had a fifteen-month hiatus," Joshua said, mentioning his previous loss. "We dusted off the cobwebs, and I am eager to head into 2026."

The Future: Past Their Prime and Rising Stars

In the post-fight interview that followed, a jovial Joshua tried out a poor impression of Tyson Fury as he demanded a fight against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will probably have his way, but that bout comes much too late in their professional journeys. Both men are on the downward slope of the hill.

In contrast, the most interesting big men in the world remain Oleksandr Usyk and the British prospect. Usyk remains the unquestioned ruler of the weight class, after defeating both Joshua and Fury twice. At the same time, Itauma is a rising talent. The young British heavyweight would probably have needed less than half the amount of three-minute periods that Joshua needed to knock Paul into a suitably wowed stupor.

Paul's Defiant Response

But the public receives what the public wants, and that certainly means more low-quality crossover contests. Paul seemed genuinely proud and brash to have had his jaw broken by a hammer-like right. In the wee hours of the next day, he shared an X-ray, with the two fractures highlighted in crimson.

That lighthearted reference to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a much superior boxer than Joshua but a equally diminished force, showed that Paul's brazen audacity remains unbroken. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will soon find someone else with whom he can earn north of $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before departing to the hospital, Paul expelled a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was another grim symbol of the evening as Paul mangled blunt truth with blood-flecked bullshit and stated: "I think my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A proper ass-whipping from one of the greatest to ever do it. I love this sport and I'm going to come back and continue winning."