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Jake Paul's jaw dropped agape, his expression turning to wide, stunned circles as he sank to the canvas in shock and awe following a devastating right hand from the former champion. It appeared as if Paul was trying to say "Whoa!" as the force of the impact registered to his rattled senses.

"The fans didn't pay to see this garbage," said the referee, encapsulating the sorry affair much more succinctly than any observer else could.

Trapped in a corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could no longer retreat or cling to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the serious reality of boxing enveloped him. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the shot that broke his jaw in two separate places, Paul was lost in an utterly stunned moment.

So this is how it is like, and looks, to be struck cleanly by a real boxer, 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 sent to the floor, but the consequences of a clean power shot meant Paul could not get up and waggle his tongue defiantly before the official called the charade to a halt. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a dull ache radiated through his jaw, Paul finally grasped how difficult, exhausting, and perilous boxing is at a decent level of competition.

A Far From Impressive Win for Joshua

Anthony Joshua, it must be noted, was not impressive during the chaos. After his hollow victory, he performed 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 fight. Rather than exuding intimidation or exhibiting an iron certainty, Joshua had seemed hesitant and crude for almost five rounds.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a fundamental requirement in elite boxing, dictated the outcome. Without the gas to escape any longer, and resorting to falling to the deck as frequently as he could for a breather, Paul was rendered defenseless by exhaustion. Joshua applied the brutal ending, but, until then, he had seemed a mournful shadow of the boxer he had been in 2017.

The Winner's Post-Fight Assessment

"It wasn't the finest performance," Joshua conceded. "The objective was to catch Jake Paul, corner him and do damage. That has been the plan, 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 praised Paul's courage but he offered an explanation for his own labored performance. "He faced a real fighter tonight that's had a fifteen-month layoff," Joshua said, mentioning his previous loss. "We dusted off the cobwebs, and I am eager to head into 2026."

What Comes Next: Faded Forces and Rising Stars

In the press conference that followed, a jovial Joshua attempted a woeful imitation of his domestic rival as he called for a fight against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will probably get his wish, but that bout comes much too late in their professional journeys. Both men are on the far side of the peak.

In contrast, the most compelling big men in the world remain the Ukrainian master and the British prospect. Usyk is still the unquestioned king of the weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury twice. At the same time, Itauma is a rising force. The young British heavyweight would probably have needed less than half the number of rounds that Joshua needed to knock Paul into a appropriately wowed state.

Paul's Unbowed Reaction

But the fans gets what the public desires, and that undoubtedly means more pitiful celebrity contests. Paul seemed genuinely satisfied and brash to have had his mandible fractured by a hammer-like right. In the wee hours of the next day, he shared an radiograph, with the pair of breaks highlighted in red.

That lighthearted nod to the Mexican superstar, a much superior fighter than Joshua but a similarly faded presence, showed that Paul's brazen audacity is unbroken. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly find another opponent with whom he can earn north of $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before departing to the hospital, Paul spat a streak of blood onto the ring floor. It was another grim summary of the evening as Paul mangled blunt truth with gory 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 do it. I love this sport and I'm going to come back and keep on winning."