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Jake Paul's mouth gaped agape, his eyes becoming wide, stunned circles as he sank to the mat in shock and awe after a devastating 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 spend money to see this garbage," snapped the referee, encapsulating the dismal spectacle much more effectively than any observer else could.

Trapped in a corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could not retreat or hold on to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the serious reality of the sweet science enveloped him. Instead, as he tried to absorb the shot that fractured his mandible in two separate places, Paul was lost in an completely stunned moment.

So that is what it is like, and looks, to be hit hard by a real 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 knocked down, but the result of a proper punch meant Paul could not get up and taunt his opponent before the referee called the contest to a halt. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a dull ache spread through his jawbone, Paul at last grasped how difficult, grueling, and perilous boxing is at a decent standard of professionalism.

A Far From Impressive Win for the Victor

Joshua, it should be stressed, was not impressive during the chaos. After his empty victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that suggested a clinical and deadly execution when, in reality, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for the majority of the fight. Instead of glowering with menace or displaying an iron certainty, Joshua had seemed tentative and crude for almost five rounds.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a fundamental requirement in top-level boxing, shaped the outcome. Without the gas to escape any longer, and resorting to falling to the deck as frequently as he could for a rest, Paul was rendered helpless by exhaustion. Joshua applied the brutal ending, but, until then, he had looked like a sad imitation of the fighter he had been in 2017.

The Winner's Aftermath Assessment

"It wasn't the best display," Joshua admitted. "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 thoughts. It took a little more time than expected, but the right hand finally reached its destination."

Joshua praised Paul's courage but he added an excuse for his own labored performance. "He faced a genuine competitor tonight that's had a fifteen-month hiatus," Joshua said, referencing his last loss. "We shook off the cobwebs, and I can't wait to roll into 2026."

The Future: Past Their Prime and New Talent

In the press conference afterwards, a cheerful Joshua tried out a poor imitation of Tyson Fury as he called for a fight against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will likely get his wish, but that bout comes far too late in their professional journeys. Both men are on the downward slope of the hill.

In contrast, the most compelling big men in the world are Oleksandr Usyk and the British prospect. Usyk remains the undoubted ruler of the weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury twice. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rapidly ascending talent. The young British heavyweight would probably have needed fewer than half the amount of three-minute periods that Joshua needed to send Paul into a suitably wowed stupor.

The Defeated Fighter's Defiant Response

But the public gets what the public desires, and that undoubtedly means additional pitiful celebrity fights. Paul seemed genuinely proud and brash to have had his mandible fractured by a sledgehammer right. In the wee hours of the next day, he shared an X-ray, with the pair of breaks marked in crimson.

That lighthearted nod to the Mexican superstar, a much superior boxer than Joshua but a similarly diminished force, demonstrated that Paul's brazen audacity remains unbroken. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly locate another opponent with whom he can earn north of $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before departing to the medical facility, Paul expelled a streak of blood onto the ring floor. It was another bleak summary of the evening as Paul mangled harsh reality with gory bravado and said: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A proper beating from one of the greatest to ever do it. I adore this shit and I'm going to return and keep on winning."