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Jake Paul's jaw dropped agape, his eyes becoming wide, stunned circles as he sank to the mat in shock and awe after a devastating right hand from Anthony Joshua. It looked as if Paul was attempting to say "Whoa!" as the severity of the blow sank in to his rattled senses.

"The fans didn't pay to see this crap," said the referee, summing up the sorry spectacle far more effectively than any observer 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 in a desperate clinch as the gravity of the sweet science enveloped him. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the punch that fractured his mandible in two distinct locations, Paul was caught in an utterly dazed moment.

So that is what it feels, and appears, to be struck cleanly by a real boxer, an Olympic gold medallist and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is certainly the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been sent to the floor, but the consequences of a clean power shot meant Paul would not be able to get up and taunt his opponent before the official called the charade to a halt. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a numbing throb spread through his jawbone, Paul finally understood how hard, exhausting, and dangerous boxing is at a decent standard of competition.

An Unimpressive Impressive Win for the Victor

Joshua, it should be stressed, was not impressive amid the bedlam. After his empty victory, he performed a throat-slitting gesture that hinted at a clinical and deadly finish when, in reality, Joshua had appeared exasperated for most of the contest. Rather than glowering with menace or exhibiting an iron certainty, Joshua had appeared tentative and awkward for nearly five rounds.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a fundamental requirement in elite boxing, shaped the outcome. Lacking the stamina to flee any longer, and reduced to slipping to the deck as often as he could for a rest, Paul was left defenseless by exhaustion. Joshua delivered the brutal finish, but, until then, he had seemed a mournful imitation of the fighter he had been in 2017.

The Winner's Post-Fight Assessment

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

Joshua commended Paul's bravery but he added an explanation for his own labored performance. "He came up against a real fighter tonight that's had a fifteen-month layoff," Joshua said, mentioning his last defeat. "We dusted off the rust, and I can't wait to head into 2026."

What Comes Next: Faded Forces and Rising Stars

In the press conference afterwards, a cheerful Joshua tried out a poor impression of his domestic rival as he demanded a scrap against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will probably have his way, but that matchup comes much too late in their professional journeys. Both men are on the downward slope of the hill.

In stark contrast, the most interesting big men in the world remain Oleksandr Usyk and Moses Itauma. Usyk remains the unquestioned king of the division, after defeating both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rising talent. The youthful British heavyweight would probably have needed fewer than half the number of rounds that Joshua required to knock Paul into a appropriately wowed stupor.

The Defeated Fighter's Defiant Reaction

But the public gets what the public desires, and that undoubtedly means more pitiful celebrity fights. Paul appeared truly satisfied and brash to have had his jaw broken by a sledgehammer right. In the wee hours of the next day, he shared an radiograph, with the pair of breaks marked in crimson.

That lighthearted reference to the Mexican superstar, a far greater boxer than Joshua but a equally faded presence, demonstrated that Paul's brazen audacity is undented. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly find someone else with whom he can earn more than $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before leaving for the hospital, Paul expelled a streak of blood onto the ring floor. It was another bleak symbol of the night as Paul mixed blunt truth with blood-flecked bullshit and stated: "I think my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A nice little ass-whipping from one of the greatest to ever step in the ring. I adore this shit and I'm going to return and keep on winning."