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Jake Paul's mouth gaped wide open, his expression turning to huge glazed saucers as he sank to the canvas in stunned disbelief following a devastating right hand from Anthony Joshua. It looked as if Paul was trying to say "Wow!" as the force of the impact sank in to his rattled senses.

"Those watching didn't pay to see this garbage," said the referee, summing up the dismal spectacle far more succinctly than anyone else could.

Trapped in a corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could no longer run or hold on to Joshua's legs like a forlorn little boy as the gravity of the sweet science became clear. Instead, as he tried to absorb the shot that broke his jaw in two separate places, Paul was lost in an utterly dazed moment.

So this is how it feels, and looks, to be struck cleanly by a genuine boxer, an Olympic gold medallist and former world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is certainly the word.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been sent to the floor, but the result of a clean power shot ensured Paul could not get up and waggle his tongue defiantly before the official called the charade over. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a dull ache radiated through his jawbone, Paul at last grasped how hard, grueling, and dangerous boxing is at a decent standard of professionalism.

A Far From Commanding Victory for Joshua

Anthony Joshua, it should be stressed, was not impressive amid the bedlam. After his empty victory, he made a cut-throat motion that suggested a precise and lethal finish when, in reality, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for most of the contest. Rather than glowering with menace or displaying an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had seemed hesitant and awkward for nearly five stanzas.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a fundamental requirement in elite boxing, shaped the result. Lacking the stamina to escape any more, and resorting to slipping to the deck as frequently as he could for a breather, Paul was left helpless by fatigue. Joshua delivered the brutal finish, but, until then, he had seemed a mournful shadow of the boxer he had been in 2017.

The Winner's Aftermath Assessment

"That was not the finest performance," Joshua admitted. "The end goal was to catch Jake Paul, pin him down and do damage. That has been the request, and that's what was on my thoughts. It took a little more time than expected, but the right hand eventually found its target."

Joshua commended Paul's bravery but he offered an explanation for his own stilted showing. "He faced a genuine competitor tonight that's had a 15-month layoff," Joshua said, mentioning his previous defeat. "We shook 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 cheerful Joshua tried out a poor imitation of Tyson Fury as he demanded a fight against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will probably get his wish, but that matchup comes much too late in their careers. Both men are on the far side of the peak.

In stark contrast, the most compelling heavyweights in the world remain Oleksandr Usyk and the British prospect. Usyk remains the unquestioned 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 required fewer than half the amount of three-minute periods that Joshua needed to knock Paul into a suitably wowed stupor.

Paul's Unbowed Response

But the fans gets what the public desires, and that certainly means additional pitiful crossover contests. Paul appeared genuinely satisfied and cocky to have had his mandible fractured by a hammer-like right. In the early hours of the next day, he shared an X-ray, with the two fractures marked in red.

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

While he was being interviewed, before leaving for the medical facility, Paul spat a tracer of blood onto the canvas. It was another grim summary of the night as Paul mixed blunt truth with gory bravado and stated: "I think my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A nice little ass-whipping from one of the greatest to ever step in the ring. I love this sport and I'm going to return and continue winning."