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Jake Paul's jaw dropped wide open, his eyes becoming huge glazed saucers as he sank to the mat in shock and awe following a pulverising right hand from the former champion. It looked as if Paul was attempting to say "Whoa!" as the severity of the impact sank in to his rattled senses.

"The audience didn't pay to see this crap," snapped the referee, summing up the sorry affair far more succinctly than anyone else managed to.

Pinned in a corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could not retreat or hold on to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the serious reality of the sweet science became clear. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the punch that fractured his mandible in two distinct locations, Paul was lost in an completely dazed moment.

So this is how it feels, and appears, to be struck cleanly by a real boxer, an Olympic gold medallist and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is indeed the word.

It was the fourth time the social media star had been sent to the floor, but the result of a proper power shot meant Paul could not get up and waggle his tongue defiantly before the referee waved the charade to a halt. As blood began to trickle from his mouth, and a numbing throb spread through his jawbone, Paul finally understood how difficult, grueling, and perilous boxing is at a respectable standard of professionalism.

A Far From Commanding Victory for the Victor

Anthony Joshua, it should be stressed, was far from convincing amid the bedlam. After his empty victory, he performed a throat-slitting gesture that suggested a clinical and deadly finish when, in reality, Joshua had appeared exasperated for the majority of the contest. Instead of glowering with menace or displaying an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had seemed hesitant and crude for almost five stanzas.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a fundamental requirement in elite boxing, shaped the result. Lacking the stamina to flee any more, and reduced to falling to the canvas as often as he could for a rest, Paul was left defenseless by exhaustion. Joshua applied the vicious ending, but, up to that point, he had seemed a mournful shadow of the fighter he was in 2017.

Joshua's Post-Fight Assessment

"That was not the finest 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 mind. It took a little more time than anticipated, but the straight right finally reached its destination."

Joshua commended Paul's bravery but he added an explanation for his own stilted performance. "He came up against a genuine competitor tonight that's had a 15-month hiatus," Joshua said, referencing his previous loss. "We shook off the rust, and I am eager to roll into 2026."

What Comes Next: Faded Forces and Rising Stars

In the post-fight interview afterwards, a cheerful Joshua tried out a poor impression of Tyson Fury as he called for a fight against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will likely have his way, but that bout comes far too late in their careers. Both men are on the far side of the hill.

In contrast, the most interesting heavyweights in the world are the Ukrainian master and the British prospect. Usyk is still the unquestioned king of the weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rising force. The youthful British heavyweight likely have needed less than half the amount of rounds that Joshua required to send Paul into a appropriately astonished state.

The Defeated Fighter's Unbowed Response

But the fans gets what the public desires, and that undoubtedly means more pitiful celebrity fights. Paul seemed genuinely satisfied and cocky 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 two fractures marked in crimson.

That jokey reference to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a much superior boxer than Joshua but a equally faded presence, showed that Paul's comic chutzpah remains unbroken. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will soon locate someone else with whom he can make more than $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before leaving for the medical facility, Paul expelled a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was another grim summary of the evening as Paul mangled harsh reality with gory bullshit and stated: "I think my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A proper 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."