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

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

Trapped in a neutral corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could not run or cling to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the gravity of the sweet science enveloped him. Instead, as he tried to absorb the punch that broke his jaw in two separate places, Paul was caught in an utterly stunned moment.

So that is what it feels, and looks, to be struck cleanly by a genuine professional fighter, an Olympic gold medallist and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is indeed the word.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been knocked down, but the consequences of a clean power shot ensured Paul could not rise and taunt his opponent before the referee waved the charade to a halt. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a numbing throb radiated through his jaw, Paul finally grasped how hard, exhausting, and dangerous boxing is at a decent level of competition.

A Far From Impressive Victory for Joshua

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 clinical and lethal execution when, in truth, Joshua had appeared exasperated for most of the fight. Instead of glowering with menace or displaying an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had seemed hesitant and awkward for almost five stanzas.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a basic essential in elite boxing, shaped the outcome. Lacking the stamina to flee any more, and reduced to falling to the deck as frequently as he could for a rest, Paul was left defenseless by exhaustion. Joshua applied the brutal ending, but, until then, he had seemed a mournful imitation of the fighter he had been in 2017.

The Winner's Aftermath Comments

"It wasn't the best performance," Joshua admitted. "The end goal was to catch Jake Paul, corner him 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 reached its target."

Joshua commended Paul's bravery but he added an explanation for his own labored performance. "He came up against a real fighter tonight that's had a 15-month layoff," Joshua said, referencing his previous defeat. "We shook off the rust, and I can't wait to head into 2026."

The Future: Past Their Prime and New Talent

In the press conference that followed, a cheerful Joshua tried out a poor impression of Tyson Fury as he called for a fight against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will probably get his wish, but that matchup comes much too late in their professional journeys. Both fighters are on the downward slope of the hill.

In contrast, the most interesting big men in the world remain Oleksandr Usyk and Moses Itauma. Usyk remains the undoubted king of the weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury twice. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rapidly ascending force. The young British heavyweight likely have required less than half the number of three-minute periods that Joshua needed to send Paul into a suitably wowed stupor.

Paul's Unbowed Reaction

But the fans gets what the public wants, and that undoubtedly means more pitiful crossover fights. Paul seemed truly proud and cocky to have had his jaw broken by a sledgehammer right. In the wee hours of the next day, he shared an radiograph, with the two fractures marked in crimson.

That lighthearted reference to the Mexican superstar, a much superior boxer than Joshua but a equally faded force, showed that Paul's comic chutzpah remains undented. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will soon find another opponent with whom he can make north of $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before departing to the medical facility, Paul expelled a streak of blood onto the canvas. It was one more grim summary of the night as Paul mangled harsh reality with gory bravado and stated: "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 return and keep on winning."