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Jake Paul's mouth gaped agape, his expression turning to huge glazed saucers as he collapsed to the canvas in stunned disbelief following a pulverising right hand from Anthony Joshua. It looked as if Paul was trying to say "Wow!" as the force of the impact sank in to his scrambled senses.

"The audience didn't spend money to see this rubbish," said the referee, summing up the sorry affair far more succinctly than any observer else managed to.

Trapped in a corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could no longer run or hold on to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the gravity of boxing enveloped him. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the punch that fractured his mandible in two separate places, Paul was lost in an utterly dazed moment.

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

It was the fourth time the social media star had been knocked down, but the consequences of a clean punch meant Paul would not be able to get up and waggle his tongue defiantly before the official called the contest over. As blood began to trickle from his lips, and a numbing throb spread through his jawbone, Paul finally understood how hard, grueling, and perilous boxing is at a respectable level of competition.

An Unimpressive Impressive Victory for the Victor

Anthony Joshua, it must be noted, was not impressive amid the chaos. After his hollow victory, he performed a cut-throat motion that hinted at a clinical and lethal execution when, in reality, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for most of the fight. Instead of exuding intimidation or displaying an iron certainty, Joshua had seemed hesitant and crude for almost five stanzas.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a basic essential in top-level boxing, shaped the result. Without the gas to escape any more, and resorting to slipping to the canvas as often as he could for a breather, Paul was left helpless by exhaustion. Joshua applied the vicious finish, but, until then, he had seemed a sad imitation of the fighter he had been in 2017.

Joshua's Aftermath Assessment

"That was not the best performance," Joshua conceded. "The objective was to get Jake Paul, corner him and do damage. That has been the request, and that's what was on my thoughts. It took a bit longer than anticipated, but the straight right eventually reached its destination."

Joshua praised Paul's courage but he added an excuse for his own stilted showing. "He faced a real fighter tonight that's had a 15-month layoff," Joshua said, mentioning his last defeat. "We dusted off the rust, and I can't wait to head into 2026."

What Comes Next: Past Their Prime and New Talent

In the post-fight interview that followed, a cheerful Joshua tried out a poor impression of his domestic rival as he demanded a fight against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will likely have his way, but that bout comes much too late in their careers. Both men are on the downward slope of the hill.

In contrast, the most interesting big men in the world are the Ukrainian master and Moses Itauma. Usyk is still the unquestioned ruler of the weight class, after defeating both Joshua and Fury twice. At the same time, Itauma is a rising force. The youthful British heavyweight likely have needed less than half the amount of rounds that Joshua required to send Paul into a appropriately wowed state.

Paul's Unbowed Reaction

But the public receives what the public desires, and that certainly means more pitiful celebrity contests. Paul appeared truly satisfied and brash to have had his mandible fractured by a hammer-like right. In the early hours of the next day, he posted an X-ray, with the pair of breaks marked in crimson.

That jokey nod to the Mexican superstar, a far greater boxer than Joshua but a equally diminished force, demonstrated that Paul's comic chutzpah remains unbroken. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly find another opponent with whom he can make more than $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before departing to the hospital, Paul expelled a streak of blood onto the ring floor. It was one more bleak symbol of the evening as Paul mangled harsh reality with gory bullshit and said: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A nice little beating from one of the greatest to ever do it. I love this sport and I'm going to come back and keep on winning."