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Jake Paul's mouth gaped wide open, his eyes becoming wide, stunned circles as he sank to the canvas in shock and awe after a pulverising right hand from the former champion. It looked as if Paul was attempting to utter "Wow!" as the severity of the blow sank in to his rattled senses.

"The fans didn't spend money to see this garbage," snapped the referee, encapsulating the dismal spectacle much more succinctly than anyone else could.

Pinned in a neutral corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could no longer retreat or hold on 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 lost in an utterly stunned moment.

So that is what it feels, and appears, to be hit hard by a genuine professional fighter, an Olympic gold medallist and ex- 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 punch ensured Paul could not rise and waggle his tongue defiantly before the official called the contest to a halt. As blood began to trickle from his mouth, and a numbing throb spread through his jaw, Paul at last grasped how hard, exhausting, and perilous boxing is at a decent level of professionalism.

A Far From Impressive Victory for the Victor

Joshua, it should be stressed, was not impressive during the bedlam. After his empty victory, he made a cut-throat motion that hinted at a clinical and deadly execution when, in reality, Joshua had appeared exasperated for the majority of the fight. Rather than glowering with menace or exhibiting an iron certainty, Joshua had seemed hesitant and awkward for nearly five rounds.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a basic essential in top-level boxing, shaped the outcome. Lacking the stamina to escape any more, and reduced to slipping to the canvas as frequently as he could for a breather, Paul was left defenseless by fatigue. Joshua applied the vicious ending, but, until then, he had seemed a mournful shadow of the boxer he was in 2017.

The Winner's Aftermath Assessment

"It wasn't the finest display," Joshua conceded. "The end goal was to catch Jake Paul, pin him down and do damage. That has been the request, and that's what was on my mind. It took a bit longer than expected, but the right hand finally reached its target."

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

The Future: Faded Forces and New Talent

In the post-fight interview afterwards, a jovial Joshua attempted a poor imitation of his domestic rival as he called for a fight against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will probably have his way, but that matchup comes far too late in their professional journeys. Both men are on the downward slope of the hill.

In contrast, the most compelling heavyweights in the world are Oleksandr Usyk and the British prospect. Usyk remains the unquestioned king of the division, after defeating both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rapidly ascending force. The young British heavyweight likely have required less than half the amount of rounds that Joshua required to send Paul into a suitably astonished state.

Paul's Defiant Reaction

But the fans gets what the public desires, and that certainly means additional pitiful crossover contests. Paul appeared genuinely proud and brash to have had his mandible fractured by a sledgehammer right. In the early hours of Saturday morning, he shared an radiograph, with the pair of breaks marked in crimson.

That jokey reference to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a far greater fighter than Joshua but a equally faded presence, showed that Paul's comic chutzpah is undented. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will soon find someone else with whom he can make north of $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before leaving for the hospital, Paul spat a streak of blood onto the ring floor. It was one more grim summary of the evening as Paul mixed blunt truth with gory bravado and stated: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A proper beating from one of the greatest to ever step in the ring. I adore this shit and I'm going to come back and continue winning."