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Jake Paul's jaw dropped wide open, his expression turning to wide, stunned circles as he sank to the mat in stunned disbelief following a devastating right hand from Anthony Joshua. It appeared as if Paul was trying to utter "Wow!" as the force of the impact sank in to his rattled senses.

"The audience didn't pay to see this crap," snapped the referee, summing up the dismal spectacle far more succinctly than any observer else could.

Trapped in a neutral corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could not run or cling to Joshua's legs like a forlorn little boy as the serious reality of the sweet science enveloped him. Instead, as he tried to absorb the shot that broke his jaw in two distinct locations, Paul was lost in an completely stunned moment.

So that is what it feels, and appears, to be hit hard by a genuine boxer, an Olympic champion and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is indeed the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been knocked down, but the result of a proper punch meant Paul could not rise and waggle his tongue defiantly before the referee called the contest over. As blood began to trickle from his mouth, and a dull ache radiated through his jawbone, Paul at last understood how difficult, exhausting, and dangerous boxing is at a respectable standard of competition.

An Unimpressive Impressive Win for Joshua

Joshua, it should be stressed, was not impressive during the chaos. After his empty victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that hinted at a precise and lethal finish when, in truth, Joshua had appeared exasperated for the majority of the contest. Instead of glowering with menace or displaying an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had seemed tentative and crude for nearly five stanzas.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a fundamental requirement in top-level boxing, shaped the outcome. Lacking the stamina to flee any longer, and reduced to falling to the deck as often as he could for a rest, Paul was rendered helpless by fatigue. Joshua delivered the vicious finish, but, up to that point, he had looked like a mournful shadow of the fighter he had been in 2017.

Joshua's Post-Fight Assessment

"That was not the best 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 target."

Joshua praised Paul's courage but he offered an excuse for his own labored showing. "He came up against a real fighter tonight that's had a fifteen-month layoff," Joshua said, referencing his last loss. "We shook off the cobwebs, and I am eager to head into 2026."

What Comes Next: Faded Forces and New Talent

In the press conference afterwards, a jovial Joshua tried out a poor imitation of Tyson Fury as he called for a fight against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will probably get his wish, but that matchup comes far too late in their professional journeys. Both men are on the far side of the hill.

In stark contrast, the most compelling big men in the world are Oleksandr Usyk and the British prospect. Usyk is still the undoubted king of the division, having beaten both Joshua and Fury twice. At the same time, Itauma is a rapidly ascending force. The young British heavyweight would probably have needed less than half the number of three-minute periods that Joshua required to knock Paul into a appropriately astonished state.

Paul's Defiant Reaction

But the fans receives what the public desires, and that undoubtedly means additional low-quality celebrity contests. Paul appeared genuinely satisfied and brash to have had his jaw broken 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 the Mexican superstar, a far greater boxer than Joshua but a similarly faded force, showed that Paul's comic chutzpah is undented. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly find someone else with whom he can earn more than $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before leaving for the medical facility, Paul expelled a streak of blood onto the ring floor. It was one more grim summary of the night as Paul mixed harsh reality with gory bullshit and stated: "I think my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A nice little beating from one of the best to ever do it. I adore this sport and I'm going to come back and continue winning."