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Jake Paul's mouth gaped wide open, 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 appeared as if Paul was attempting to say "Whoa!" as the severity of the blow sank in to his scrambled senses.

"Those watching didn't pay to see this rubbish," said the referee, encapsulating the sorry spectacle far more succinctly than any observer else managed to.

Trapped in a neutral corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could not run or cling to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the serious reality of boxing became clear. Instead, as he tried to absorb the punch that broke his jaw in two separate places, Paul was lost in an utterly dazed moment.

So that is what it feels, and appears, to be struck cleanly by a genuine professional fighter, an Olympic gold medallist and former world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is certainly the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the social media star had been knocked down, but the consequences of a clean power shot ensured Paul could not rise and waggle his tongue defiantly before the official called the charade to a halt. As blood began to leak from his lips, and a numbing throb spread through his jaw, Paul finally grasped how hard, grueling, and dangerous boxing is at a decent level of professionalism.

A Far From Impressive Victory for Joshua

Joshua, it should be stressed, was not impressive amid the bedlam. After his empty victory, he performed a cut-throat motion that hinted at a precise and deadly finish when, in reality, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for the majority of the contest. Instead of exuding intimidation or exhibiting an iron certainty, Joshua had appeared tentative and awkward for nearly five rounds.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a basic essential in elite boxing, dictated the result. Without the gas to flee any longer, and resorting to slipping to the canvas as often as he could for a rest, Paul was left helpless by fatigue. Joshua applied the vicious finish, but, until then, he had seemed a mournful shadow of the fighter he had been in 2017.

The Winner's Post-Fight Assessment

"That was not the finest display," Joshua conceded. "The objective was to catch Jake Paul, pin him down and do damage. That has been the plan, and that's what was on my mind. It took a bit longer than anticipated, but the right hand eventually found its target."

Joshua commended Paul's bravery but he added an excuse for his own stilted performance. "He came up against a real fighter tonight that's had a fifteen-month hiatus," Joshua said, mentioning his previous defeat. "We shook off the cobwebs, and I am eager to head into 2026."

The Future: Faded Forces and Rising Stars

In the post-fight interview that followed, a jovial Joshua tried out a poor impression of Tyson Fury as he demanded a scrap against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will likely get his wish, but that matchup comes far too late in their careers. Both fighters are on the far side of the hill.

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 division, after defeating both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. At the same time, Itauma is a rising talent. The young British heavyweight would probably have needed less than half the number of three-minute periods that Joshua required to send Paul into a appropriately wowed stupor.

The Defeated Fighter's Unbowed Response

But the public receives what the public desires, and that certainly means more low-quality celebrity fights. Paul appeared genuinely satisfied and cocky to have had his mandible fractured by a sledgehammer right. In the wee hours of Saturday morning, he posted an radiograph, with the two fractures marked in red.

That jokey reference to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a much superior 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 locate another opponent with whom he can make north of $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before leaving for the hospital, Paul expelled a tracer of blood onto the canvas. It was another bleak symbol of the evening as Paul mixed blunt truth with blood-flecked bullshit and said: "I think 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 shit and I'm going to come back and continue winning."