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Jake Paul's jaw dropped agape, his eyes becoming huge glazed saucers as he collapsed to the canvas in stunned disbelief following a devastating right hand from Anthony Joshua. It appeared as if Paul was attempting to utter "Wow!" as the force of the impact registered to his scrambled senses.

"The audience didn't pay to see this crap," snapped the referee, summing up the sorry spectacle much more succinctly than any observer else could.

Pinned in a corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could not retreat 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 utterly stunned moment.

So this is how it feels, and looks, to be hit hard by a genuine professional fighter, an Olympic champion and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is indeed the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been sent to the floor, but the result of a clean punch meant Paul could not get up and taunt his opponent before the referee waved the contest to a halt. As blood began to leak from his lips, and a dull ache radiated through his jaw, Paul finally grasped how difficult, grueling, and perilous boxing is at a decent level of competition.

An Unimpressive Impressive Win for the Victor

Joshua, it should be stressed, was not impressive amid the chaos. After his hollow victory, he made a cut-throat motion that suggested a clinical and lethal finish when, in reality, Joshua had appeared exasperated for the majority of the fight. Rather than glowering with menace or displaying an iron certainty, Joshua had seemed tentative and crude for almost five rounds.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a fundamental requirement in elite boxing, dictated the outcome. 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 helpless by fatigue. Joshua applied the vicious finish, but, up to that point, he had seemed a sad imitation of the fighter he had been in 2017.

The Winner's Post-Fight Comments

"It wasn't the best performance," Joshua conceded. "The objective was to catch Jake Paul, corner him and do damage. That has been the plan, and that's what was on my mind. It took a bit longer than anticipated, but the straight right finally reached its destination."

Joshua praised Paul's bravery but he added an excuse for his own labored performance. "He came up against a real fighter tonight that's had a 15-month layoff," Joshua said, mentioning his previous defeat. "We shook off the rust, and I am eager to head into 2026."

What Comes Next: Past Their Prime and Rising Stars

In the post-fight interview that followed, a cheerful Joshua tried out a woeful imitation of Tyson Fury as he called for a scrap against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will likely get his wish, but that bout comes far too late in their professional journeys. Both men are on the downward slope of the peak.

In stark contrast, the most compelling heavyweights in the world remain the Ukrainian master and the British prospect. Usyk remains the undoubted ruler of the weight class, after defeating both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rapidly ascending talent. The young British heavyweight would probably have needed fewer than half the amount of rounds that Joshua needed to knock Paul into a suitably wowed state.

Paul's Defiant Reaction

But the fans receives what the public wants, and that undoubtedly means additional low-quality celebrity contests. Paul appeared genuinely proud and brash to have had his jaw broken by a sledgehammer right. In the early hours of Saturday morning, he posted an radiograph, with the pair of breaks highlighted in crimson.

That lighthearted reference to the Mexican superstar, a much superior boxer than Joshua but a equally faded force, showed that Paul's brazen audacity remains unbroken. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will soon locate another opponent with whom he can earn more than $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before leaving for the medical facility, Paul expelled a streak of blood onto the ring floor. It was one more grim summary of the evening as Paul mangled harsh reality with gory bravado and stated: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A proper beating from one of the greatest to ever step in the ring. I love this sport and I'm going to come back and keep on winning."