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Jake Paul's jaw dropped agape, his eyes becoming huge glazed saucers as he sank to the canvas in shock and awe following a pulverising right hand from the former champion. It looked as if Paul was attempting to say "Whoa!" as the force of the impact sank in to his rattled senses.

"The audience didn't pay to see this rubbish," snapped the referee, encapsulating the dismal spectacle much more succinctly than any observer else could.

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 in a desperate clinch as the gravity of the sweet science enveloped him. Instead, as he tried to absorb the punch that fractured his mandible in two distinct locations, Paul was caught in an completely dazed moment.

So this is how it is like, and appears, to be hit hard by a genuine professional fighter, an Olympic champion and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is certainly the word.

It was the fourth time the social media star had been sent to the floor, but the result of a clean punch meant Paul could not rise and waggle his tongue defiantly before the referee waved the contest over. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a dull ache spread through his jaw, Paul at last understood how hard, exhausting, and dangerous boxing is at a respectable level of competition.

An Unimpressive Commanding Victory for the Victor

Anthony Joshua, it should be stressed, was not impressive during the bedlam. After his empty victory, he performed a cut-throat motion that suggested a clinical and lethal execution when, in truth, Joshua had appeared exasperated for the majority of the contest. Instead of glowering with menace or displaying an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had appeared tentative and awkward for almost five stanzas.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a fundamental requirement in elite boxing, dictated the result. Lacking the stamina to flee any longer, and resorting to slipping to the canvas as often 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 best performance," Joshua conceded. "The end goal was to catch Jake Paul, pin him down and hurt him. That has been the plan, and that's what was on my thoughts. It took a bit longer than anticipated, but the right hand finally reached its target."

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

The Future: Past Their Prime and Rising Stars

In the post-fight interview that followed, a jovial Joshua tried out a woeful imitation of his domestic rival as he called for a fight against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will likely have his way, but that bout comes far too late in their professional journeys. Both men are on the downward slope of the peak.

In stark contrast, the most compelling big men in the world remain Oleksandr Usyk and Moses Itauma. Usyk is still the unquestioned king of the weight class, after defeating both Joshua and Fury twice. At the same time, Itauma is a rising talent. The youthful British heavyweight would probably have needed less than half the number of three-minute periods that Joshua needed to send Paul into a appropriately wowed stupor.

The Defeated Fighter's Unbowed Response

But the public gets what the public wants, and that undoubtedly means additional pitiful crossover fights. Paul seemed truly proud and brash to have had his jaw broken by a hammer-like right. In the wee hours of the next day, he posted an X-ray, with the pair of breaks highlighted in crimson.

That jokey reference to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a far greater boxer than Joshua but a similarly diminished force, showed that Paul's comic chutzpah is unbroken. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly locate someone else with whom he can earn more than $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before leaving for the hospital, Paul expelled a streak of blood onto the ring floor. It was another bleak symbol of the evening as Paul mangled harsh reality with gory bullshit and said: "I think my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A proper beating from one of the best to ever do it. I love this sport and I'm going to come back and continue winning."