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Jake Paul's mouth gaped agape, his eyes becoming huge glazed saucers as he collapsed to the canvas in stunned disbelief after a devastating right hand from the former champion. It appeared as if Paul was attempting to say "Wow!" as the force of the impact registered to his scrambled senses.

"The audience didn't pay to see this rubbish," said the referee, encapsulating the sorry affair far more effectively than any observer else managed to.

Pinned in a corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could not run or hold on to Joshua's legs like a forlorn little boy as the gravity of boxing became clear. Instead, as he tried to absorb the shot that broke his jaw in two separate places, Paul was lost in an completely dazed moment.

So that is what it feels, and looks, to be hit hard by a genuine boxer, an Olympic gold medallist and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is certainly the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been sent to the floor, but the consequences of a proper power shot meant Paul would not be able to rise and waggle his tongue defiantly before the official called the charade over. As blood began to trickle from his lips, and a dull ache radiated through his jawbone, Paul finally understood how difficult, grueling, and dangerous boxing is at a decent level of professionalism.

An Unimpressive Impressive Victory for the Victor

Anthony Joshua, it must be noted, was far from convincing amid the bedlam. After his hollow victory, he made a cut-throat motion that suggested a precise and lethal execution when, in reality, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for most of the fight. Instead of exuding intimidation or displaying an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had appeared tentative and crude for almost five stanzas.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a fundamental requirement in top-level boxing, dictated the outcome. Lacking the stamina to flee any longer, and resorting to slipping to the deck as often as he could for a breather, Paul was left helpless by exhaustion. Joshua delivered the brutal ending, but, up to that point, he had looked like a sad imitation of the boxer he had been in 2017.

Joshua's Post-Fight Assessment

"It wasn't 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 bit longer than expected, but the straight right eventually found its target."

Joshua commended Paul's courage but he added an excuse for his own labored showing. "He faced a genuine competitor tonight that's had a 15-month layoff," Joshua said, referencing his last defeat. "We shook off the cobwebs, and I can't wait to roll into 2026."

What Comes Next: Past Their Prime and Rising Stars

In the press conference that followed, a cheerful Joshua tried out a poor imitation of Tyson Fury as he called for a fight against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will likely have his way, but that matchup comes much too late in their professional journeys. Both men are on the downward slope of the peak.

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, after defeating both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rising force. The youthful British heavyweight likely have required fewer than half the amount of three-minute periods that Joshua required to knock Paul into a appropriately astonished stupor.

The Defeated Fighter's Defiant Reaction

But the fans receives what the public wants, and that undoubtedly means more pitiful crossover contests. Paul appeared genuinely satisfied and cocky to have had his jaw broken by a hammer-like right. In the early hours of Saturday morning, he shared an X-ray, with the two fractures marked in crimson.

That jokey reference to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a much superior fighter than Joshua but a similarly diminished presence, showed that Paul's brazen audacity is undented. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly locate someone else with whom he can make more than $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before departing to the hospital, Paul spat a tracer of blood onto the canvas. It was one more bleak summary of the night as Paul mangled blunt truth with blood-flecked bravado and said: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A proper beating from one of the best to ever step in the ring. I love this shit and I'm going to return and keep on winning."