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Jake Paul's jaw dropped wide open, his eyes becoming wide, stunned circles as he collapsed to the canvas in stunned disbelief after a pulverising right hand from the former champion. It appeared as if Paul was trying to say "Wow!" as the force of the blow sank in to his scrambled senses.

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

Pinned in a neutral corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could not run or hold on to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the serious reality of the sweet science became clear. Instead, as he tried to absorb the punch that fractured his mandible in two distinct locations, Paul was caught in an completely dazed moment.

So this is how it is like, and looks, to be hit hard by a genuine professional fighter, an Olympic champion and former world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is certainly the word.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been sent to the floor, but the consequences of a clean power shot ensured Paul would not be able to get up and waggle his tongue defiantly before the official waved the contest over. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a numbing throb spread through his jaw, Paul finally understood how difficult, exhausting, and dangerous boxing is at a decent standard of competition.

An Unimpressive Commanding Victory for Joshua

Joshua, it must be noted, was far from convincing during the bedlam. After his hollow victory, he performed a throat-slitting gesture that suggested a precise and lethal finish when, in truth, Joshua had appeared exasperated for most of the contest. Instead of glowering with menace or displaying an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had seemed hesitant and awkward for almost five rounds.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a basic essential in top-level 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 rendered defenseless by fatigue. Joshua delivered the brutal finish, but, until then, he had looked like a mournful shadow of the fighter he had been in 2017.

The Winner's Post-Fight Assessment

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

Joshua commended Paul's courage but he added an excuse for his own labored showing. "He faced a real fighter tonight that's had a fifteen-month hiatus," Joshua said, mentioning his previous defeat. "We shook off the cobwebs, and I am eager to head into 2026."

What Comes Next: Past Their Prime and Rising Stars

In the press conference afterwards, a jovial Joshua tried out a woeful imitation of Tyson Fury as he demanded a fight against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will probably get his wish, but that matchup comes far too late in their professional journeys. Both fighters are on the far side of the hill.

In stark contrast, the most interesting big men in the world are the Ukrainian master and Moses Itauma. Usyk remains the undoubted ruler of the weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury twice. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rapidly ascending talent. The young British heavyweight likely have required less than half the number of rounds that Joshua needed to send Paul into a suitably wowed state.

The Defeated Fighter's Unbowed Reaction

But the fans receives what the public desires, and that undoubtedly means more low-quality crossover fights. Paul appeared genuinely satisfied and brash to have had his jaw broken by a sledgehammer right. In the wee hours of Saturday morning, he shared an radiograph, with the two fractures highlighted in red.

That lighthearted nod to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a far greater boxer than Joshua but a similarly faded presence, demonstrated that Paul's comic chutzpah remains undented. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly locate someone else with whom he can make north of $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before departing to the hospital, Paul spat a tracer of blood onto the canvas. It was one more bleak summary of the night as Paul mangled blunt truth with gory bullshit and said: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A proper ass-whipping from one of the best to ever do it. I adore this sport and I'm going to return and continue winning."