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Jake Paul's jaw dropped wide open, his expression turning to wide, stunned circles as he collapsed to the canvas in stunned disbelief after a pulverising right hand from the former champion. It looked as if Paul was trying to utter "Wow!" as the severity of the blow registered to his rattled senses.

"The audience didn't pay to see this crap," snapped the referee, summing up the dismal affair much 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 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 completely dazed moment.

So that is what it is like, and appears, to be hit hard by a genuine boxer, an Olympic gold medallist and former world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is indeed the word.

It was the fourth time the social media star had been knocked down, but the result of a proper punch ensured Paul would not be able to get up and taunt his opponent before the official waved the contest over. As blood began to trickle from his mouth, and a dull ache spread through his jaw, Paul at last understood how hard, grueling, and dangerous boxing is at a respectable standard of professionalism.

An Unimpressive Impressive Win for the Victor

Anthony Joshua, it must be noted, was not impressive amid the chaos. After his hollow victory, he performed a cut-throat motion that suggested a clinical and lethal finish when, in reality, Joshua had appeared exasperated for most of the contest. Rather than exuding intimidation or displaying an iron certainty, Joshua had appeared tentative and crude for almost five rounds.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a fundamental requirement in elite boxing, shaped the result. Without the gas to flee any more, and resorting to slipping to the canvas as frequently as he could for a rest, Paul was left helpless by fatigue. Joshua delivered the vicious ending, but, until then, he had looked like a mournful imitation of the boxer he was in 2017.

The Winner's Aftermath Assessment

"That was not the best performance," Joshua admitted. "The end goal 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 bit longer than expected, but the straight right eventually reached its target."

Joshua commended Paul's bravery but he offered an explanation for his own stilted performance. "He came up against a genuine competitor tonight that's had a fifteen-month hiatus," Joshua said, mentioning his last loss. "We shook off the cobwebs, and I can't wait to roll into 2026."

The Future: Faded Forces and Rising Stars

In the press conference afterwards, a cheerful Joshua attempted a poor imitation of Tyson Fury as he demanded a fight against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will probably have his way, but that matchup comes far too late in their careers. Both men are on the far side of the peak.

In contrast, the most compelling heavyweights in the world are the Ukrainian master and Moses Itauma. Usyk is still the unquestioned king of the weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. At the same time, Itauma is a rising force. The young British heavyweight would probably have required less than half the number of rounds that Joshua required to send Paul into a suitably wowed stupor.

The Defeated Fighter's Defiant Reaction

But the fans receives what the public desires, and that undoubtedly means additional pitiful crossover contests. Paul appeared genuinely satisfied 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 pair of breaks highlighted in crimson.

That lighthearted reference to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a far greater boxer than Joshua but a similarly diminished force, demonstrated that Paul's brazen audacity remains unbroken. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will soon locate someone else with whom he can make more than $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before leaving for the hospital, Paul expelled a streak of blood onto the ring floor. It was another grim symbol of the evening as Paul mangled blunt truth with blood-flecked bullshit and stated: "I think my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A nice little beating from one of the best to ever step in the ring. I love this shit and I'm going to come back and keep on winning."