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Jake Paul's mouth gaped agape, his eyes becoming wide, stunned circles as he sank to the mat in shock and awe after a devastating right hand from the former champion. It appeared as if Paul was trying to utter "Wow!" as the severity of the impact sank in to his scrambled senses.

"The fans didn't pay to see this garbage," said the referee, encapsulating the sorry affair far more effectively than anyone 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 gravity of the sweet science enveloped him. Instead, as he tried to absorb the shot that fractured his mandible in two separate places, Paul was lost in an completely stunned moment.

So that is what it is like, and looks, to be hit hard by a genuine professional fighter, an Olympic champion and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is certainly the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been knocked down, but the result of a proper punch ensured Paul would not be able to rise and waggle his tongue defiantly before the official called the charade 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 standard of competition.

An Unimpressive Impressive Victory for Joshua

Anthony Joshua, it should be stressed, was far from convincing amid the bedlam. After his hollow victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that suggested a precise and deadly execution when, in reality, Joshua had appeared exasperated for the majority of the fight. Instead of glowering with menace or displaying an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had seemed hesitant and crude for almost five rounds.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a fundamental requirement in elite boxing, shaped the outcome. Without the gas to flee any more, and resorting to slipping to the deck as often as he could for a breather, Paul was left helpless by fatigue. Joshua applied the vicious finish, but, up to that point, he had seemed a sad shadow of the fighter he was in 2017.

The Winner's Post-Fight Comments

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

Joshua commended Paul's bravery but he added an explanation for his own stilted showing. "He faced a real fighter tonight that's had a fifteen-month hiatus," Joshua said, referencing his previous loss. "We shook 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 attempted a poor imitation of Tyson Fury as he demanded a fight against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will probably get his wish, but that matchup comes much too late in their careers. Both men are on the downward slope of the peak.

In stark contrast, the most interesting heavyweights in the world remain the Ukrainian master and Moses Itauma. Usyk is still the unquestioned king of the weight class, after defeating both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rapidly ascending talent. The youthful British heavyweight would probably have required less than half the number of three-minute periods that Joshua needed to send Paul into a appropriately wowed state.

The Defeated Fighter's Defiant Reaction

But the public receives what the public wants, and that certainly means additional low-quality celebrity contests. Paul appeared truly proud and cocky to have had his mandible fractured by a sledgehammer right. In the early hours of Saturday morning, he posted an radiograph, with the pair of breaks marked in red.

That lighthearted reference to the Mexican superstar, a much superior fighter than Joshua but a equally diminished force, demonstrated that Paul's comic chutzpah is undented. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly find someone else with whom he can make north of $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before leaving for the medical facility, Paul spat a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was another bleak summary of the evening as Paul mixed harsh reality with blood-flecked bravado and said: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A proper ass-whipping from one of the greatest to ever do it. I adore this shit and I'm going to return and continue winning."