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Jake Paul's mouth gaped wide open, his expression turning to wide, stunned circles as he collapsed to the canvas in stunned disbelief after a devastating right hand from the former champion. It appeared as if Paul was attempting to say "Whoa!" as the force of the blow registered to his scrambled senses.

"The fans didn't pay to see this crap," snapped the referee, summing up the dismal spectacle far more succinctly than any observer else managed to.

Pinned in a corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could no longer retreat or cling to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch 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 caught in an utterly dazed moment.

So that is what it is like, and looks, 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 former YouTuber had been knocked down, but the result of a proper power shot meant Paul would not be able to rise and waggle his tongue defiantly before the official waved the contest to a halt. As blood began to leak from his lips, and a numbing throb spread through his jaw, Paul at last understood how difficult, exhausting, and dangerous boxing is at a decent level of competition.

An Unimpressive Commanding Victory for the Victor

Joshua, it must be noted, was far from convincing during the chaos. After his hollow victory, he performed a throat-slitting gesture that suggested a precise and deadly finish when, in truth, Joshua had appeared exasperated for the majority of the contest. Rather than exuding intimidation or displaying an iron certainty, Joshua had appeared hesitant and awkward for almost five stanzas.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a basic essential in elite boxing, shaped the outcome. Without the gas to escape any more, and reduced to slipping to the deck as often as he could for a breather, Paul was left defenseless by exhaustion. Joshua delivered the vicious finish, but, up to that point, he had looked like a sad shadow of the fighter he was in 2017.

Joshua's Post-Fight Assessment

"It wasn't the finest performance," Joshua conceded. "The objective was to get Jake Paul, pin him down and do damage. That has been the plan, and that's what was on my mind. It took a bit longer than anticipated, but the straight right finally found its target."

Joshua commended Paul's courage but he offered an explanation for his own labored performance. "He came up against a genuine competitor tonight that's had a 15-month layoff," Joshua said, mentioning his previous 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 post-fight interview that followed, a cheerful Joshua attempted a poor imitation of Tyson Fury as he demanded a scrap against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will likely get his wish, but that matchup comes much too late in their careers. Both fighters are on the downward slope of the hill.

In stark contrast, the most compelling big men in the world are Oleksandr Usyk and Moses Itauma. Usyk is still the unquestioned king of the weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury twice. At the same time, Itauma is a rapidly ascending force. The youthful British heavyweight likely have needed fewer than half the amount of three-minute periods that Joshua needed to knock Paul into a appropriately wowed stupor.

Paul's Unbowed Response

But the public gets what the public wants, and that certainly means more low-quality crossover fights. Paul appeared genuinely satisfied and brash to have had his jaw broken by a hammer-like right. In the wee hours of the next day, he shared an X-ray, with the pair of breaks highlighted in red.

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

While he was being interviewed, before leaving for the hospital, Paul expelled a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was another bleak summary of the evening as Paul mixed blunt truth with blood-flecked bravado and said: "I think my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A nice little ass-whipping from one of the greatest to ever do it. I love this sport and I'm going to return and keep on winning."