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Jake Paul's mouth gaped wide open, his eyes becoming wide, stunned circles as he collapsed to the canvas in stunned disbelief after a devastating right hand from Anthony Joshua. It looked as if Paul was attempting to say "Whoa!" as the severity of the blow sank in to his scrambled senses.

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

Pinned in a neutral corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could not run or cling to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the gravity of boxing became clear. Instead, as he tried to absorb the punch that fractured his mandible in two separate places, Paul was lost in an utterly stunned moment.

So that is what it is like, and appears, to be hit hard by a real boxer, an Olympic gold medallist and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is certainly the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been sent to the floor, but the consequences of a proper punch meant Paul could not rise and waggle his tongue defiantly before the official waved the contest to a halt. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a numbing throb spread through his jaw, Paul finally understood how difficult, grueling, and dangerous boxing is at a respectable standard of competition.

An Unimpressive Impressive Win for Joshua

Anthony Joshua, it should be stressed, was far from convincing amid the chaos. After his empty victory, he performed a cut-throat motion that suggested a precise and lethal finish when, in reality, Joshua had appeared exasperated for most of the contest. Rather than glowering with menace or exhibiting an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had appeared tentative and awkward for almost five stanzas.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a basic essential in elite boxing, shaped the outcome. Without the gas to flee any more, and resorting to falling to the canvas as often as he could for a rest, Paul was left helpless by fatigue. Joshua applied the brutal finish, but, until then, he had looked like a mournful imitation of the boxer he was in 2017.

The Winner's Post-Fight Comments

"It wasn't the best performance," Joshua admitted. "The objective was to catch Jake Paul, pin him down and hurt him. That has been the request, and that's what was on my thoughts. It took a little more time than expected, but the right hand finally reached its destination."

Joshua commended Paul's bravery but he added an explanation for his own stilted performance. "He faced a genuine competitor tonight that's had a 15-month hiatus," Joshua said, mentioning his last loss. "We dusted off the rust, and I am eager to head into 2026."

What Comes Next: Past Their Prime and Rising Stars

In the press conference that followed, a jovial Joshua tried out a woeful impression of Tyson Fury as he demanded a fight against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will probably get his wish, but that bout comes much too late in their careers. Both men are on the far side of the hill.

In contrast, the most compelling big men in the world remain the Ukrainian master and Moses Itauma. Usyk remains the unquestioned ruler of the weight class, after defeating both Joshua and Fury twice. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rising talent. The young British heavyweight likely have needed less than half the number of rounds that Joshua required to send Paul into a appropriately wowed stupor.

Paul's Unbowed Response

But the public receives what the public wants, and that certainly means more low-quality celebrity contests. Paul appeared genuinely satisfied and cocky 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 two fractures highlighted in red.

That jokey nod to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a much superior fighter than Joshua but a similarly diminished force, demonstrated that Paul's brazen audacity is unbroken. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will soon locate another opponent with whom he can earn more than $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before leaving for the medical facility, Paul spat a streak of blood onto the ring floor. It was one more bleak summary of the night as Paul mixed harsh reality with gory bravado 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 continue winning."