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

"The fans didn't spend money to see this crap," said the referee, encapsulating the dismal affair far more succinctly than anyone else could.

Trapped in a neutral corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could no longer retreat or hold on to Joshua's legs like a forlorn little boy as the gravity of boxing became clear. Instead, as he tried to absorb the shot 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 hit hard by a genuine professional fighter, an Olympic champion and former world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is indeed the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been sent to the floor, but the result of a clean power shot ensured Paul would not be able to get up and taunt his opponent 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 hard, grueling, and dangerous boxing is at a respectable standard of professionalism.

A Far From Commanding Victory for Joshua

Joshua, it must be noted, was not impressive during the bedlam. After his hollow victory, he performed a throat-slitting gesture that suggested a clinical and lethal finish when, in truth, Joshua had appeared exasperated for the majority of the fight. Instead of exuding intimidation or exhibiting an iron certainty, Joshua had seemed tentative and crude for nearly five stanzas.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a basic essential in top-level boxing, shaped the result. Without the gas to flee any longer, and resorting to slipping to the canvas as often as he could for a rest, Paul was rendered defenseless by fatigue. Joshua applied the brutal ending, but, until then, he had looked like a sad shadow of the boxer he was in 2017.

The Winner's Post-Fight Assessment

"That was not the best 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 little more time than expected, but the straight right eventually reached its destination."

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

What Comes Next: Past Their Prime and New Talent

In the post-fight interview afterwards, a cheerful Joshua tried out a woeful imitation of his domestic rival as he called for a fight against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will probably have his way, but that matchup comes much too late in their professional journeys. Both fighters are on the downward slope of the peak.

In contrast, the most compelling heavyweights in the world are the Ukrainian master and Moses Itauma. Usyk is still the undoubted ruler of the division, having beaten both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. At the same time, Itauma is a rapidly ascending force. The young British heavyweight likely have required less than half the number of three-minute periods that Joshua required to knock Paul into a appropriately wowed stupor.

The Defeated Fighter's Defiant Response

But the public receives what the public wants, and that certainly means more low-quality crossover fights. Paul seemed truly proud and cocky to have had his jaw broken by a hammer-like right. In the wee hours of the next day, he posted an radiograph, with the pair of breaks marked in crimson.

That jokey reference to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a much superior boxer than Joshua but a similarly faded force, showed that Paul's brazen audacity remains unbroken. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly locate someone else with whom he can make north of $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before departing to the hospital, Paul expelled a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was one more grim symbol of the night as Paul mangled blunt truth with blood-flecked bullshit and said: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A nice little beating from one of the best to ever do it. I adore this shit and I'm going to come back and continue winning."