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Jake Paul's mouth gaped wide open, his eyes becoming wide, stunned circles as he collapsed to the mat in shock and awe after a pulverising right hand from the former champion. It looked as if Paul was attempting to utter "Wow!" as the severity of the impact sank in to his rattled senses.

"The audience didn't spend money to see this rubbish," said the referee, encapsulating the sorry spectacle much more succinctly than any observer else could.

Trapped in a neutral corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could no longer run or hold on to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the serious reality of boxing became clear. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the punch that fractured his mandible in two distinct locations, Paul was lost in an completely dazed moment.

So that is what it feels, and looks, to be struck cleanly by a genuine boxer, an Olympic champion and former world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is certainly the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the social media star had been knocked down, but the consequences of a proper punch meant Paul could not get up and waggle his tongue defiantly before the referee waved the contest over. As blood began to trickle from his lips, and a dull ache radiated through his jawbone, Paul finally grasped how hard, exhausting, and perilous boxing is at a decent level of competition.

An Unimpressive Impressive Victory for the Victor

Joshua, it should be stressed, was far from convincing during the bedlam. After his hollow victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that suggested a precise and lethal execution when, in reality, Joshua had appeared exasperated for most of the contest. Instead of exuding intimidation or exhibiting an iron certainty, Joshua had appeared tentative and crude for almost five stanzas.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a basic essential in top-level boxing, dictated the outcome. Without the gas to escape any more, and resorting to falling to the deck as frequently as he could for a rest, Paul was left helpless by exhaustion. Joshua delivered the vicious finish, but, up to that point, he had seemed a sad shadow of the fighter he was in 2017.

The Winner's Post-Fight Assessment

"That was not the finest display," Joshua conceded. "The end goal was to get Jake Paul, pin him down and hurt him. That has been the plan, and that's what was on my mind. It took a bit longer than expected, but the straight right finally reached its target."

Joshua commended Paul's courage but he offered an excuse for his own stilted performance. "He faced 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 head into 2026."

What Comes Next: Past Their Prime and Rising Stars

In the press conference that followed, a cheerful Joshua attempted a poor impression of Tyson Fury as he called for a scrap against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will likely get his wish, but that matchup comes much too late in their careers. Both fighters are on the far side of the hill.

In stark contrast, the most interesting heavyweights in the world remain Oleksandr Usyk and Moses Itauma. Usyk is still the undoubted king of the division, after defeating both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rapidly ascending talent. The youthful British heavyweight likely have required fewer than half the number of rounds that Joshua needed to send Paul into a suitably astonished state.

Paul's Defiant Reaction

But the fans gets what the public desires, and that certainly means more low-quality crossover fights. Paul appeared truly proud and cocky to have had his jaw broken by a sledgehammer right. In the early hours of Saturday morning, he shared an radiograph, with the pair of breaks marked in red.

That lighthearted nod to the Mexican superstar, a far greater boxer than Joshua but a similarly faded presence, demonstrated that Paul's brazen audacity remains undented. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly locate someone else with whom he can earn north of $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before departing to the hospital, Paul spat a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was another grim symbol of the evening as Paul mixed blunt truth with gory bravado and said: "I think my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A proper ass-whipping from one of the best to ever do it. I love this sport and I'm going to return and continue winning."