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Jake Paul's jaw dropped wide open, his eyes becoming wide, stunned circles as he collapsed to the mat in shock and awe after a pulverising right hand from Anthony Joshua. It looked as if Paul was trying to utter "Whoa!" as the severity of the impact registered to his rattled senses.

"The audience didn't spend money to see this rubbish," said the referee, encapsulating the dismal affair much more succinctly than anyone else managed to.

Pinned in a neutral corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could not retreat or hold on to Joshua's legs like a forlorn little boy as the serious reality of boxing enveloped him. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the punch that broke his jaw in two distinct locations, Paul was lost in an utterly stunned moment.

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

It was the fourth time the social media star had been sent to the floor, but the consequences of a clean power shot ensured Paul would not be able to rise and taunt his opponent before the official called the charade over. As blood began to leak from his lips, and a dull ache spread through his jawbone, Paul at last grasped how hard, exhausting, and perilous boxing is at a decent level of competition.

A Far From Impressive Victory for the Victor

Joshua, it must be noted, was far from convincing amid the bedlam. After his hollow victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that suggested a clinical and lethal finish when, in truth, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for the majority of the fight. Instead of exuding intimidation or displaying an iron certainty, Joshua had seemed tentative and awkward for almost five rounds.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a basic essential in top-level boxing, dictated the outcome. Without the gas to flee any longer, and resorting to slipping to the canvas as frequently as he could for a rest, Paul was left helpless by fatigue. Joshua applied the vicious finish, but, until then, he had seemed a mournful shadow of the boxer he was in 2017.

The Winner's Aftermath Comments

"That was not the finest display," Joshua conceded. "The objective was to catch Jake Paul, pin him down and do damage. That has been the plan, and that's what was on my mind. It took a little more time than expected, but the right hand finally found its target."

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 fifteen-month layoff," Joshua said, mentioning his last defeat. "We shook off the cobwebs, and I can't wait to roll into 2026."

What Comes Next: Faded Forces and New Talent

In the press conference that followed, a cheerful Joshua tried out a woeful impression of Tyson Fury as he called for a fight against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will probably get his wish, but that bout 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 are the Ukrainian master and Moses Itauma. Usyk is still the undoubted ruler 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 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 undoubtedly means additional pitiful celebrity contests. Paul seemed genuinely proud and brash to have had his jaw broken by a hammer-like right. In the wee hours of Saturday morning, he shared an X-ray, with the two fractures highlighted in red.

That jokey reference to the Mexican superstar, a far greater boxer than Joshua but a equally diminished force, demonstrated that Paul's comic chutzpah remains unbroken. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will soon find someone else with whom he can make north of $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before departing to the hospital, Paul expelled a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was another grim summary of the evening as Paul mangled blunt truth with blood-flecked bravado and said: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A nice little 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."