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Jake Paul's jaw dropped wide open, his eyes becoming wide, stunned circles as he sank to the canvas in shock and awe after a devastating right hand from the former champion. It looked as if Paul was attempting to say "Whoa!" as the severity of the impact registered to his rattled senses.

"Those watching didn't pay to see this garbage," snapped the referee, summing up the sorry affair far more effectively than anyone else could.

Pinned in a neutral corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could not retreat or cling 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 shot that fractured his mandible in two distinct locations, Paul was caught in an completely dazed moment.

So this is how it feels, and appears, to be hit hard by a real professional fighter, an Olympic gold medallist and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is certainly the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the social media star had been sent to the floor, but the result of a clean power shot ensured Paul could not rise and taunt his opponent before the referee waved the charade over. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a numbing throb spread through his jawbone, Paul finally grasped how difficult, exhausting, and perilous boxing is at a decent level of competition.

An Unimpressive Impressive Win for the Victor

Joshua, it must be noted, was far from convincing amid the chaos. After his empty victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that suggested a clinical and deadly execution when, in reality, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for most of the fight. Instead of exuding intimidation or exhibiting an iron certainty, Joshua had appeared hesitant and crude for almost five rounds.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a fundamental requirement in elite boxing, dictated the result. Without the gas to escape any more, and resorting to falling to the deck as often as he could for a rest, Paul was left defenseless by fatigue. Joshua applied the vicious finish, but, up to that point, he had seemed a mournful imitation of the fighter he had been in 2017.

Joshua's Aftermath Assessment

"It wasn't the finest performance," Joshua admitted. "The end goal was to catch Jake Paul, corner him and hurt him. That has been the plan, and that's what was on my thoughts. It took a little more time than expected, but the straight right finally found its target."

Joshua commended Paul's courage but he added an explanation for his own labored showing. "He faced a real fighter tonight that's had a 15-month hiatus," Joshua said, mentioning his previous defeat. "We shook off the cobwebs, and I am eager to head into 2026."

What Comes Next: Past Their Prime and New Talent

In the press conference afterwards, a cheerful Joshua tried out a woeful impression of Tyson Fury as he called for a fight against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will probably have his way, but that matchup comes far too late in their careers. Both fighters are on the downward slope of the peak.

In contrast, the most compelling heavyweights in the world remain the Ukrainian master and the British prospect. Usyk is still the undoubted ruler of the weight class, after defeating both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. At the same time, Itauma is a rapidly ascending talent. The youthful British heavyweight likely have needed less than half the amount of rounds that Joshua required to knock Paul into a suitably wowed state.

The Defeated Fighter's Defiant Reaction

But the public gets what the public wants, and that undoubtedly means additional low-quality crossover contests. Paul seemed truly proud and brash to have had his mandible fractured by a hammer-like right. In the wee hours of the next day, he posted an radiograph, with the pair of breaks marked in red.

That lighthearted reference to the Mexican superstar, a far greater boxer than Joshua but a similarly diminished force, demonstrated that Paul's brazen audacity remains unbroken. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly locate someone else with whom he can make north of $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before leaving for the hospital, Paul spat a tracer of blood onto the canvas. It was another grim symbol of the evening as Paul mangled blunt truth with gory bravado and said: "I think my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A proper ass-whipping from one of the greatest to ever step in the ring. I love this sport and I'm going to come back and continue winning."