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Jake Paul's mouth gaped agape, his eyes becoming huge glazed saucers as he sank to the canvas in stunned disbelief following a pulverising right hand from the former champion. It looked as if Paul was attempting to say "Wow!" as the severity of the blow registered to his scrambled senses.

"The fans didn't pay to see this garbage," said the referee, summing up the dismal affair far more effectively than anyone else could.

Pinned in a corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could no longer retreat or hold on to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the gravity of boxing enveloped him. Instead, as he tried to absorb the shot that broke his jaw in two separate places, Paul was caught in an utterly stunned moment.

So that is what it feels, and looks, to be struck cleanly by a real professional fighter, an Olympic gold medallist and former world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is indeed the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been knocked down, but the consequences of a clean power shot meant Paul would not be able to rise and taunt his opponent before the referee waved the charade over. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a numbing throb radiated through his jawbone, Paul at last understood how hard, exhausting, and perilous boxing is at a decent standard of competition.

A Far From Impressive Win for the Victor

Anthony Joshua, it must be noted, was far from convincing during the bedlam. After his hollow victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that hinted at a precise and lethal finish when, in reality, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for most of the contest. Instead of glowering with menace or exhibiting an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had seemed tentative and crude for almost five rounds.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a fundamental requirement in elite boxing, dictated the outcome. Without the gas to flee any more, and resorting to falling to the deck as frequently as he could for a rest, Paul was left helpless by fatigue. Joshua delivered the vicious ending, but, until then, he had seemed a sad imitation of the boxer he was in 2017.

The Winner's Post-Fight Comments

"That was not the finest performance," Joshua admitted. "The objective was to catch Jake Paul, pin him down and do damage. That has been the plan, and that's what was on my mind. It took a bit longer than anticipated, but the straight right finally found its target."

Joshua praised Paul's bravery but he offered an excuse for his own labored showing. "He faced a genuine competitor tonight that's had a fifteen-month hiatus," Joshua said, referencing his last defeat. "We shook off the rust, and I am eager to head into 2026."

What Comes Next: Faded Forces and Rising Stars

In the press conference that followed, a cheerful Joshua tried out a poor impression of Tyson Fury as he demanded a fight against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will probably have his way, but that matchup comes much too late in their careers. Both men are on the downward slope of the peak.

In stark contrast, the most compelling heavyweights in the world remain the Ukrainian master and the British prospect. Usyk remains the undoubted king of the division, after defeating both Joshua and Fury twice. At the same time, Itauma is a rapidly ascending force. The youthful British heavyweight would probably have needed less than half the number of rounds that Joshua needed to send Paul into a suitably astonished state.

The Defeated Fighter's Unbowed Response

But the public gets what the public wants, and that undoubtedly means additional low-quality crossover fights. Paul seemed truly proud and brash to have had his jaw broken by a sledgehammer right. In the early hours of Saturday morning, he shared an X-ray, with the two fractures marked in red.

That jokey reference to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a far greater fighter than Joshua but a equally diminished presence, showed that Paul's comic chutzpah remains undented. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly find someone else with whom he can make north of $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before departing to the medical facility, Paul spat a streak of blood onto the canvas. It was one more grim summary of the night as Paul mixed blunt truth with gory bravado and said: "I think my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A nice little beating from one of the best to ever step in the ring. I love this sport and I'm going to come back and keep on winning."