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Jake Paul's mouth gaped wide open, his expression turning to huge glazed saucers as he collapsed to the mat in shock and awe following a devastating right hand from Anthony Joshua. It appeared as if Paul was trying to utter "Wow!" as the force of the impact sank in to his scrambled senses.

"The audience didn't pay to see this garbage," said the referee, summing up the sorry spectacle much more succinctly than anyone else could.

Pinned in a corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could no longer run or hold on to Joshua's legs like a forlorn little boy as the gravity of the sweet science enveloped him. Instead, as he tried to absorb the punch that broke his jaw in two distinct locations, Paul was lost in an utterly stunned moment.

So that is what it feels, and looks, to be hit hard by a real professional fighter, an Olympic champion and former world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is certainly the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been sent to the floor, but the result of a proper punch meant Paul could not rise and taunt his opponent before the referee waved the contest over. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a numbing throb spread through his jawbone, Paul at last understood how hard, exhausting, and perilous boxing is at a decent standard of professionalism.

An Unimpressive Commanding Victory for the Victor

Anthony Joshua, it must be noted, was not impressive amid the bedlam. After his empty victory, he performed a cut-throat motion that hinted at a precise and lethal finish when, in reality, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for most of the contest. Instead of glowering with menace or displaying an iron certainty, Joshua had seemed hesitant and crude for almost five stanzas.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a fundamental requirement in top-level boxing, shaped the result. Without the gas to escape any longer, and reduced to slipping to the deck as often as he could for a breather, Paul was rendered helpless by fatigue. Joshua delivered the vicious finish, but, until then, he had looked like a sad shadow of the fighter he was in 2017.

Joshua's Aftermath Assessment

"It wasn't the best performance," Joshua conceded. "The end goal was to get Jake Paul, pin him down and hurt him. That has been the plan, and that's what was on my thoughts. It took a little more time than expected, but the right hand eventually found its destination."

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

What Comes Next: Past Their Prime and New Talent

In the press conference that followed, a jovial Joshua attempted a poor impression of Tyson Fury as he demanded a fight against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will likely have his way, but that matchup comes far too late in their careers. Both fighters are on the downward slope of the peak.

In stark contrast, the most interesting big men in the world remain Oleksandr Usyk and the British prospect. Usyk is still the undoubted king of the division, after defeating both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. At the same time, Itauma is a rising talent. The young British heavyweight would probably have needed fewer than half the number of three-minute periods that Joshua required to knock Paul into a suitably astonished state.

Paul's Unbowed Reaction

But the fans receives what the public wants, and that undoubtedly means more pitiful crossover contests. Paul appeared truly proud and brash to have had his jaw broken by a hammer-like right. In the early hours of the next day, he shared an X-ray, with the two fractures marked in crimson.

That lighthearted nod to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a much superior fighter than Joshua but a equally diminished force, showed that Paul's brazen audacity is unbroken. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly find another opponent with whom he can earn north of $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before departing to the medical facility, Paul spat a tracer of blood onto the canvas. It was another grim summary of the evening as Paul mixed harsh reality with gory bullshit and said: "I think my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A proper ass-whipping from one of the greatest to ever step in the ring. I love this shit and I'm going to return and keep on winning."