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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 pulverising right hand from Anthony Joshua. It looked as if Paul was trying to utter "Wow!" as the severity of the impact sank in to his rattled senses.

"The fans didn't pay to see this garbage," snapped the referee, summing up the sorry spectacle much more succinctly than anyone else could.

Pinned in a neutral corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could no longer run or hold on 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 fractured his mandible in two distinct locations, Paul was caught in an completely stunned moment.

So that is what it is like, and looks, to be struck cleanly by a real professional fighter, an Olympic champion and former world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is certainly the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been knocked down, but the result of a clean power shot meant Paul would not be able to get up and waggle his tongue defiantly before the referee waved the charade to a halt. As blood began to trickle from his lips, and a numbing throb radiated through his jawbone, Paul finally understood how difficult, exhausting, and perilous boxing is at a respectable level of competition.

An Unimpressive Impressive Victory for Joshua

Anthony Joshua, it must be noted, was not impressive amid the chaos. After his empty victory, he made a cut-throat motion that hinted at a clinical and deadly execution when, in truth, Joshua had appeared exasperated for most of the contest. Rather than exuding intimidation or exhibiting an iron certainty, Joshua had seemed tentative and awkward for almost five rounds.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a basic essential in elite boxing, shaped the outcome. Lacking the stamina to escape any more, and resorting to slipping to the canvas as often as he could for a rest, Paul was rendered helpless by exhaustion. Joshua delivered the vicious ending, but, up to that point, he had seemed a mournful imitation of the boxer he was in 2017.

The Winner's Post-Fight 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 anticipated, but the straight right eventually reached its target."

Joshua praised Paul's bravery but he added an excuse for his own stilted showing. "He faced a genuine competitor tonight that's had a 15-month hiatus," Joshua said, mentioning his last loss. "We shook off the cobwebs, and I can't wait to roll into 2026."

The Future: Past Their Prime and Rising Stars

In the post-fight interview afterwards, a cheerful Joshua attempted a woeful imitation of Tyson Fury as he demanded a scrap against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will probably have his way, but that bout comes much too late in their careers. Both fighters are on the far side of the hill.

In contrast, the most compelling big men in the world are Oleksandr Usyk and Moses Itauma. Usyk is still the unquestioned king of the division, after defeating both Joshua and Fury twice. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rising talent. The young British heavyweight would probably have required less than half the number of rounds that Joshua required to knock Paul into a suitably wowed stupor.

The Defeated Fighter's Defiant Reaction

But the public gets what the public wants, and that certainly means more low-quality celebrity fights. Paul seemed truly satisfied and brash to have had his mandible fractured by a hammer-like right. In the early hours of Saturday morning, he posted an radiograph, with the pair of breaks highlighted in red.

That lighthearted nod to the Mexican superstar, a far greater boxer than Joshua but a similarly faded presence, demonstrated that Paul's comic chutzpah is unbroken. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will soon find someone else with whom he can earn more than $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before leaving for the hospital, Paul expelled a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was one more bleak summary of the evening as Paul mixed harsh reality with gory bravado and said: "I think my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A nice little ass-whipping from one of the greatest to ever do it. I love this shit and I'm going to return and keep on winning."