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Jake Paul's jaw dropped wide open, his expression turning to huge glazed saucers as he collapsed to the mat in stunned disbelief following a pulverising right hand from the former champion. It appeared as if Paul was attempting to say "Wow!" as the severity of the impact sank in to his scrambled senses.

"The audience didn't pay to see this garbage," said the referee, summing up the sorry affair far more effectively than any observer else could.

Pinned in a corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could no longer retreat or cling to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the gravity of boxing became clear. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the shot that broke his jaw in two distinct locations, Paul was lost in an completely dazed moment.

So this is how it is like, and appears, to be struck cleanly by a genuine boxer, an Olympic champion and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is certainly the word.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been sent to the floor, but the consequences of a clean punch meant Paul could not rise and waggle his tongue defiantly before the official waved the contest over. As blood began to trickle from his mouth, and a dull ache spread through his jawbone, Paul at last grasped how hard, grueling, and dangerous boxing is at a decent level of professionalism.

An Unimpressive Commanding Win for Joshua

Joshua, it must be noted, was not impressive amid the chaos. After his hollow victory, he made a cut-throat motion that suggested a clinical and lethal execution when, in truth, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for most of the contest. Rather than exuding intimidation or exhibiting an iron certainty, Joshua had appeared hesitant and crude for nearly five stanzas.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a fundamental requirement in top-level boxing, shaped the outcome. Lacking the stamina to escape any longer, and resorting to slipping to the deck as often as he could for a breather, Paul was left helpless by exhaustion. Joshua delivered the brutal finish, but, until then, he had looked like a sad shadow of the fighter he was in 2017.

The Winner's Post-Fight Comments

"That was not the finest performance," Joshua conceded. "The end goal was to get Jake Paul, corner him and do damage. That has been the request, and that's what was on my mind. It took a bit longer than anticipated, but the straight right finally found its destination."

Joshua praised Paul's bravery but he added an excuse for his own stilted performance. "He faced a real fighter tonight that's had a fifteen-month layoff," Joshua said, referencing his previous defeat. "We shook off the cobwebs, and I am eager to roll into 2026."

The Future: Past Their Prime and Rising Stars

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

In contrast, the most compelling heavyweights in the world remain the Ukrainian master and the British prospect. Usyk is still the undoubted king of the weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rising talent. The youthful British heavyweight likely have needed less than half the number of three-minute periods that Joshua needed to send Paul into a appropriately wowed stupor.

Paul's Unbowed Response

But the fans receives what the public wants, and that certainly means additional low-quality crossover contests. Paul appeared truly satisfied and cocky 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 highlighted in red.

That jokey nod to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a much superior boxer than Joshua but a equally diminished presence, demonstrated that Paul's brazen audacity remains undented. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will soon 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 summary of the night as Paul mangled blunt truth with gory bullshit and said: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A proper ass-whipping from one of the greatest to ever step in the ring. I love this shit and I'm going to return and keep on winning."