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Jake Paul's jaw dropped wide open, his expression turning to huge glazed saucers as he sank to the mat in stunned disbelief following a devastating right hand from Anthony Joshua. It looked as if Paul was attempting to utter "Whoa!" as the force of the blow sank in to his scrambled senses.

"The fans didn't spend money to see this crap," snapped the referee, encapsulating the sorry affair much more succinctly than any observer 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 like a forlorn little boy as the gravity of the sweet science became clear. Instead, as he tried to absorb the shot that fractured his mandible in two separate places, Paul was caught in an utterly dazed moment.

So that is what it is like, and looks, to be struck cleanly by a real 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 knocked down, but the result of a clean power shot meant Paul would not be able to rise and waggle his tongue defiantly before the referee waved the contest over. As blood began to trickle from his lips, and a dull ache radiated through his jaw, Paul at last understood how hard, grueling, and dangerous boxing is at a respectable level of professionalism.

A Far From Commanding Victory for the Victor

Anthony Joshua, it should be stressed, was not impressive during the chaos. After his empty victory, he made a cut-throat motion that suggested a clinical and deadly execution when, in reality, Joshua had appeared exasperated for the majority of the contest. Instead of glowering with menace or exhibiting an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had appeared tentative and awkward for almost five rounds.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a basic essential in elite boxing, dictated the result. Lacking the stamina to escape any longer, and resorting to falling to the canvas as frequently as he could for a rest, Paul was left defenseless by fatigue. Joshua delivered the vicious ending, but, until then, he had looked like a mournful shadow of the fighter he had been in 2017.

Joshua's Post-Fight Comments

"That was not the finest display," Joshua conceded. "The end goal was to get Jake Paul, pin him down and hurt him. 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 finally found its destination."

Joshua praised Paul's bravery but he offered an explanation for his own labored showing. "He faced a real fighter tonight that's had a 15-month hiatus," Joshua said, referencing his previous loss. "We dusted off the rust, and I can't wait to roll into 2026."

The Future: Faded Forces and Rising Stars

In the press conference afterwards, a jovial Joshua attempted a woeful imitation of Tyson Fury as he called for a scrap against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will likely get his wish, but that bout comes much too late in their professional journeys. Both fighters are on the downward slope of the peak.

In contrast, the most compelling big men in the world are the Ukrainian master and Moses Itauma. Usyk remains the undoubted king of the division, having beaten both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. At the same time, Itauma is a rising talent. The youthful British heavyweight likely have required fewer than half the amount of three-minute periods that Joshua required to send Paul into a suitably astonished stupor.

Paul's Defiant Reaction

But the fans receives what the public desires, and that certainly means additional low-quality crossover fights. Paul appeared truly satisfied and cocky to have had his mandible fractured by a hammer-like right. In the wee hours of Saturday morning, he posted an radiograph, with the pair of breaks highlighted in red.

That jokey reference to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a far greater fighter than Joshua but a equally diminished force, showed that Paul's comic chutzpah is undented. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly locate another opponent with whom he can earn more than $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before departing to the hospital, Paul spat a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was one more bleak summary of the evening as Paul mangled harsh reality with gory bullshit and stated: "I think my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A nice little ass-whipping from one of the best to ever step in the ring. I adore this shit and I'm going to come back and continue winning."