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Jake Paul's jaw dropped agape, his eyes becoming huge glazed saucers as he sank to the mat in shock and awe following a pulverising right hand from Anthony Joshua. It appeared as if Paul was attempting to utter "Whoa!" as the force of the blow registered to his scrambled senses.

"The audience didn't pay to see this crap," said the referee, encapsulating the sorry affair far more effectively than anyone else could.

Trapped 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 gravity of the sweet science enveloped him. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the shot that broke his jaw in two distinct locations, Paul was caught in an utterly dazed moment.

So that is what it is like, and appears, to be struck cleanly by a real boxer, an Olympic champion and former world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is indeed the word.

It was the fourth time the social media star had been knocked down, but the result of a clean punch ensured Paul would not be able to get up and waggle his tongue defiantly before the referee called the contest over. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a numbing throb radiated through his jawbone, Paul finally grasped how difficult, exhausting, and perilous boxing is at a respectable level of competition.

An Unimpressive Impressive Victory for Joshua

Joshua, it must be noted, was not impressive amid the chaos. After his hollow victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that suggested a precise and lethal execution when, in truth, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for most of the contest. Instead of exuding intimidation or displaying an iron certainty, Joshua had seemed hesitant and crude for almost five rounds.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a basic essential in elite boxing, shaped the result. Lacking the stamina to escape any more, and reduced to slipping to the deck as often as he could for a rest, Paul was rendered defenseless by fatigue. Joshua applied the vicious finish, but, until then, he had looked like a sad imitation of the fighter he had been in 2017.

The Winner's Post-Fight Assessment

"That was not the finest display," Joshua conceded. "The objective was to catch 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 right hand finally found its destination."

Joshua praised Paul's bravery but he offered an excuse for his own labored performance. "He came up against a real fighter tonight that's had a 15-month hiatus," Joshua said, mentioning his previous loss. "We dusted off the cobwebs, and I am eager to roll into 2026."

What Comes Next: Past Their Prime and New Talent

In the press conference that followed, a jovial Joshua tried out a woeful impression of his domestic rival as he demanded a scrap 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 hill.

In stark contrast, the most compelling heavyweights in the world remain Oleksandr Usyk and the British prospect. Usyk remains the undoubted ruler of the division, after defeating both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rising talent. The young British heavyweight would probably have required less than half the amount of rounds that Joshua needed to knock Paul into a suitably wowed stupor.

Paul's Unbowed Response

But the public gets what the public desires, and that certainly means more low-quality celebrity contests. Paul seemed genuinely satisfied and brash to have had his mandible fractured by a sledgehammer right. In the wee hours of the next day, he shared an radiograph, with the pair of breaks marked in red.

That jokey reference to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a far greater fighter than Joshua but a equally faded force, demonstrated that Paul's comic chutzpah is undented. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will soon locate another opponent with whom he can make north of $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before leaving for the medical facility, Paul expelled a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was another grim summary of the evening as Paul mixed harsh reality with blood-flecked bravado and stated: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A nice little beating from one of the greatest to ever step in the ring. I love this sport and I'm going to return and keep on winning."