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Jake Paul's jaw dropped agape, his eyes becoming wide, stunned circles as he sank to the canvas in shock and awe after a pulverising right hand from Anthony Joshua. It looked as if Paul was trying to say "Wow!" as the severity of the blow sank in to his rattled senses.

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

Pinned in a neutral corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could not retreat or cling to Joshua's legs like a forlorn little boy as the serious reality of the sweet science became clear. Instead, as he tried to absorb the shot that fractured his mandible in two distinct locations, Paul was lost in an utterly stunned moment.

So this is how it is like, and appears, to be hit hard by a real professional fighter, an Olympic champion and former world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is indeed the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the social media star had been sent to the floor, but the consequences of a clean power shot meant Paul would not be able to rise and waggle his tongue defiantly before the official called the contest over. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a dull ache spread through his jawbone, Paul finally understood how hard, exhausting, and perilous boxing is at a decent standard of competition.

An Unimpressive Commanding Victory for Joshua

Joshua, it must be noted, was not impressive during the chaos. After his empty victory, he performed a throat-slitting gesture that hinted at a precise and lethal finish when, in reality, Joshua had appeared exasperated for most of the contest. Rather than exuding intimidation or exhibiting an iron certainty, Joshua had seemed hesitant and awkward for nearly five rounds.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a basic essential in elite boxing, dictated the result. Lacking the stamina to flee any more, and reduced to falling to the deck as frequently as he could for a rest, Paul was rendered helpless by exhaustion. Joshua delivered the brutal ending, but, until then, he had seemed a sad shadow of the fighter he had been in 2017.

Joshua's Aftermath Assessment

"That was not the finest performance," Joshua admitted. "The objective was to get 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 found its destination."

Joshua commended Paul's courage but he added an explanation for his own labored performance. "He faced a genuine competitor tonight that's had a 15-month hiatus," Joshua said, mentioning his previous defeat. "We shook off the cobwebs, and I am eager to roll into 2026."

The Future: Faded Forces and New Talent

In the press conference that followed, a jovial Joshua tried out a poor impression of his domestic rival as he called for a scrap against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will probably have his way, but that bout comes far too late in their professional journeys. Both men are on the far side of the hill.

In contrast, the most compelling big men in the world are the Ukrainian master and Moses Itauma. Usyk is still the undoubted king of the weight class, after defeating both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. At the same time, Itauma is a rapidly ascending talent. The young British heavyweight would probably have required less than half the amount of three-minute periods that Joshua needed to send Paul into a appropriately wowed state.

The Defeated Fighter's Unbowed Reaction

But the fans receives what the public desires, and that certainly means more low-quality crossover fights. Paul seemed genuinely proud and brash to have had his mandible fractured by a hammer-like right. In the early hours of the next day, he shared an radiograph, with the two fractures marked in crimson.

That lighthearted reference to the Mexican superstar, a far greater fighter than Joshua but a similarly faded presence, showed that Paul's comic chutzpah is undented. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will soon locate someone else with whom he can make north of $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before departing to the medical facility, Paul spat a streak of blood onto the ring floor. It was one more grim symbol of the evening as Paul mixed harsh reality with gory bullshit and said: "I think my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A nice little beating from one of the best to ever do it. I adore this shit and I'm going to return and keep on winning."