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Jake Paul's mouth gaped agape, his expression turning to wide, stunned circles as he collapsed to the mat in shock and awe following a devastating right hand from the former champion. It appeared as if Paul was trying to utter "Whoa!" as the severity of the blow sank in to his scrambled senses.

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

Pinned in a neutral corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could not retreat or hold on to Joshua's legs like a forlorn little boy as the gravity of the sweet science enveloped him. 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 feels, and appears, to be struck cleanly by a real boxer, an Olympic gold medallist and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is certainly the word.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been knocked down, but the consequences of a clean punch ensured Paul would not be able to get up and taunt his opponent before the official called the contest over. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a dull ache radiated through his jaw, Paul at last grasped how hard, grueling, and dangerous 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 empty victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that hinted at a precise and deadly execution when, in reality, Joshua had appeared exasperated for the majority of the contest. Rather than exuding intimidation or displaying an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had appeared tentative and crude for nearly five rounds.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a fundamental requirement in elite boxing, shaped the result. Lacking the stamina to escape any longer, and resorting to falling to the deck as frequently as he could for a breather, Paul was left defenseless by exhaustion. Joshua applied the vicious finish, but, up to that point, he had seemed a mournful shadow of the boxer he was in 2017.

The Winner's Aftermath Assessment

"That was not the finest performance," Joshua conceded. "The objective was to get Jake Paul, pin him down and do damage. That has been the plan, and that's what was on my mind. It took a little more time than expected, but the right hand finally reached its destination."

Joshua commended Paul's bravery but he offered an excuse for his own stilted performance. "He came up against a genuine competitor tonight that's had a fifteen-month layoff," Joshua said, mentioning his previous loss. "We shook off the rust, and I can't wait to roll into 2026."

What Comes Next: Past Their Prime and New Talent

In the press conference afterwards, a jovial Joshua attempted a woeful imitation of his domestic rival as he demanded a scrap against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will likely have his way, but that matchup comes much too late in their careers. Both men are on the downward slope of the peak.

In contrast, the most interesting big men in the world are Oleksandr Usyk and Moses Itauma. Usyk remains the undoubted king of the weight class, after defeating both Joshua and Fury twice. At the same time, Itauma is a rising force. The young British heavyweight likely have needed less than half the amount of three-minute periods that Joshua needed to send Paul into a appropriately astonished stupor.

The Defeated Fighter's Defiant Response

But the fans gets what the public desires, and that undoubtedly means more pitiful crossover contests. Paul appeared truly proud and brash to have had his mandible fractured by a hammer-like right. In the early hours of Saturday morning, he shared an radiograph, with the pair of breaks marked in red.

That jokey reference to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a much superior fighter than Joshua but a similarly diminished presence, demonstrated that Paul's comic chutzpah remains unbroken. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will soon locate another opponent with whom he can make more than $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before leaving for the hospital, Paul spat a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was one more grim symbol of the night as Paul mangled blunt truth with gory bravado and said: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A proper beating 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."