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Jake Paul's mouth gaped agape, his eyes becoming huge glazed saucers as he sank to the canvas in stunned disbelief after a pulverising right hand from Anthony Joshua. It appeared as if Paul was attempting to say "Whoa!" as the severity of the blow sank in to his scrambled senses.

"The fans didn't spend money to see this crap," said the referee, summing up the dismal spectacle much more effectively than anyone else managed to.

Pinned in a neutral corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could not run or hold on to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the serious reality of the sweet science enveloped him. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the punch that fractured his mandible in two separate places, Paul was lost in an utterly dazed moment.

So this is how it feels, and appears, to be struck cleanly by a real professional fighter, an Olympic champion and ex- 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 clean punch ensured Paul could not rise and waggle his tongue defiantly before the official waved the contest to a halt. As blood began to trickle from his mouth, and a numbing throb spread through his jawbone, Paul finally grasped how difficult, grueling, and dangerous boxing is at a decent standard of competition.

An Unimpressive Commanding Victory for Joshua

Joshua, it must be noted, was far from convincing during the chaos. After his hollow victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that suggested a clinical and lethal finish when, in truth, Joshua had appeared exasperated for the majority of the fight. Instead of exuding intimidation or displaying an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had seemed tentative and crude for almost five stanzas.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a basic essential in elite boxing, dictated the outcome. Without the gas to flee any longer, and reduced to slipping to the deck as often as he could for a rest, Paul was rendered helpless by fatigue. Joshua applied the vicious finish, but, until then, he had seemed a mournful shadow of the fighter he was in 2017.

Joshua's Post-Fight Assessment

"That was not the best display," Joshua conceded. "The objective was to catch Jake Paul, corner him and hurt him. That has been the plan, and that's what was on my mind. It took a little more time than expected, but the straight right finally found its destination."

Joshua commended Paul's bravery but he added an explanation for his own labored showing. "He faced a real fighter tonight that's had a fifteen-month hiatus," Joshua said, mentioning his last loss. "We dusted off the rust, and I can't wait to roll into 2026."

What Comes Next: Faded Forces and Rising Stars

In the press conference afterwards, a jovial Joshua tried out a poor imitation of Tyson Fury as he called for a fight against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will likely get his wish, but that matchup comes far too late in their professional journeys. Both men are on the far side of the hill.

In contrast, the most compelling heavyweights in the world are Oleksandr Usyk and the British prospect. Usyk is still the undoubted king of the division, having beaten both Joshua and Fury twice. At the same time, Itauma is a rapidly ascending talent. The youthful British heavyweight likely have needed fewer than half the number of rounds that Joshua required to knock Paul into a appropriately wowed stupor.

Paul's Defiant Response

But the fans receives what the public wants, and that undoubtedly means additional pitiful crossover fights. Paul seemed truly proud and brash to have had his mandible fractured by a hammer-like right. In the wee hours of Saturday morning, he posted an X-ray, with the pair of breaks marked in crimson.

That lighthearted nod to the Mexican superstar, a much superior fighter than Joshua but a equally diminished force, demonstrated that Paul's comic chutzpah remains undented. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will soon find another opponent with whom he can make north of $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before departing to the hospital, Paul expelled a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was another grim symbol of the night as Paul mangled blunt truth with blood-flecked bullshit and said: "I think my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A proper ass-whipping from one of the best to ever do it. I adore this shit and I'm going to return and continue winning."