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Jake Paul's jaw dropped agape, his expression turning to huge glazed saucers as he sank to the mat in stunned disbelief following a devastating right hand from the former champion. It looked as if Paul was trying to say "Wow!" as the severity of the impact sank in to his scrambled senses.

"Those watching didn't pay to see this garbage," snapped the referee, summing up the sorry affair much more effectively than anyone else managed to.

Pinned in a corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could not run 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 broke his jaw in two separate places, Paul was lost in an utterly dazed moment.

So that is what it feels, and appears, to be hit hard by a real professional fighter, an Olympic champion and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is indeed the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been knocked down, but the consequences of a clean power shot ensured Paul would not be able to rise and waggle his tongue defiantly before the referee called the charade to a halt. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a numbing throb radiated through his jaw, Paul finally understood how hard, exhausting, and dangerous boxing is at a respectable level of competition.

An Unimpressive Impressive Victory for Joshua

Anthony Joshua, it should be stressed, was not impressive during the chaos. After his hollow victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that suggested a clinical and deadly finish when, in truth, Joshua had appeared exasperated for most of the contest. Rather than glowering with menace or displaying an iron certainty, Joshua had seemed tentative and awkward for almost five stanzas.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a fundamental requirement in elite boxing, shaped the outcome. Lacking the stamina to flee any more, and resorting to falling to the canvas as frequently as he could for a rest, Paul was left helpless by exhaustion. Joshua applied the brutal ending, but, until then, he had seemed a sad shadow of the boxer he was in 2017.

The Winner's Aftermath Comments

"It wasn't the best performance," Joshua admitted. "The end goal was to catch Jake Paul, corner him and do damage. That has been the plan, and that's what was on my thoughts. It took a little more time than anticipated, but the right hand eventually reached its target."

Joshua praised Paul's bravery but he offered an explanation for his own labored showing. "He came up against a real fighter tonight that's had a 15-month layoff," Joshua said, mentioning his last defeat. "We dusted off the rust, and I am eager to roll into 2026."

What Comes Next: Faded Forces and New Talent

In the post-fight interview afterwards, a jovial Joshua tried out a woeful impression of Tyson Fury as he demanded a fight against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will likely have his way, but that matchup comes much 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 remain Oleksandr Usyk and Moses Itauma. Usyk remains the undoubted king of the weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rapidly ascending talent. The young British heavyweight likely have needed fewer than half the number of rounds that Joshua needed to send Paul into a suitably wowed stupor.

The Defeated Fighter's Defiant Reaction

But the public receives what the public desires, and that undoubtedly means additional pitiful celebrity contests. Paul appeared truly satisfied and cocky to have had his jaw broken by a hammer-like right. In the early hours of the next day, he posted an radiograph, with the pair of breaks marked in crimson.

That jokey nod to the Mexican superstar, a much superior boxer than Joshua but a similarly diminished force, showed that Paul's brazen audacity is unbroken. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly locate someone else with whom he can earn north of $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before departing to the medical facility, Paul spat a streak of blood onto the canvas. It was another grim summary of the night as Paul mixed harsh reality with gory bullshit and stated: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A nice little ass-whipping from one of the best to ever step in the ring. I love this sport and I'm going to come back and continue winning."