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Jake Paul's jaw dropped agape, his eyes becoming wide, stunned circles as he sank to the mat in stunned disbelief after a devastating right hand from Anthony Joshua. It looked as if Paul was trying to utter "Wow!" as the force of the blow sank in to his scrambled senses.

"The fans didn't spend money to see this rubbish," snapped the referee, summing up the sorry spectacle far more succinctly than anyone else could.

Pinned in a 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 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 hit hard by a genuine professional fighter, an Olympic gold medallist and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is indeed the word.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been sent to the floor, but the result of a clean punch meant Paul would not be able to get up and taunt his opponent before the referee waved the contest to a halt. As blood began to trickle from his lips, and a numbing throb radiated through his jawbone, Paul finally understood how hard, exhausting, and dangerous boxing is at a respectable level of professionalism.

An Unimpressive Impressive Win for Joshua

Joshua, it should be stressed, was far from convincing during the chaos. After his empty victory, he made a cut-throat motion that suggested a clinical and deadly execution when, in truth, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for most of the fight. Rather than glowering with menace or exhibiting an iron certainty, Joshua had seemed hesitant and crude for nearly five stanzas.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a basic essential in elite boxing, dictated the result. Without the gas to escape any more, and reduced to falling to the deck as frequently as he could for a rest, Paul was rendered defenseless by fatigue. Joshua delivered the vicious ending, but, up to that point, he had looked like a mournful imitation of the fighter he was in 2017.

Joshua's Post-Fight Assessment

"That was not the finest performance," Joshua admitted. "The objective was to get Jake Paul, pin him down and hurt him. That has been the plan, and that's what was on my mind. It took a bit longer than expected, but the straight right eventually found its destination."

Joshua commended Paul's courage but he added an excuse for his own labored performance. "He came up against a real fighter tonight that's had a fifteen-month hiatus," Joshua said, mentioning his previous loss. "We shook off the cobwebs, and I can't wait to roll into 2026."

The Future: Past Their Prime and Rising Stars

In the post-fight interview that followed, a cheerful Joshua attempted a poor impression 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 far too late in their professional journeys. Both men are on the downward slope of the hill.

In stark contrast, the most interesting heavyweights in the world are Oleksandr Usyk and the British prospect. Usyk remains the unquestioned ruler of the weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. At the same time, Itauma is a rising talent. The young British heavyweight likely have required fewer than half the amount of three-minute periods that Joshua required to send Paul into a appropriately astonished stupor.

The Defeated Fighter's Defiant Reaction

But the fans receives what the public desires, and that certainly means more low-quality celebrity fights. Paul appeared genuinely proud and cocky to have had his mandible fractured by a hammer-like right. In the wee 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 boxer than Joshua but a similarly faded presence, demonstrated that Paul's brazen audacity remains undented. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly find another opponent with whom he can make north of $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before departing to the hospital, Paul expelled a streak of blood onto the canvas. It was one more grim summary of the night as Paul mangled harsh reality with blood-flecked bullshit and said: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A nice little ass-whipping from one of the best to ever step in the ring. I adore this sport and I'm going to return and keep on winning."