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Jake Paul's mouth gaped wide open, his expression turning to wide, stunned circles as he sank to the canvas in shock and awe after a pulverising right hand from Anthony Joshua. It appeared as if Paul was attempting to say "Whoa!" as the force of the blow registered to his scrambled senses.

"The audience didn't spend money to see this garbage," said the referee, summing up the dismal affair much more effectively than anyone else managed to.

Pinned in a neutral corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could no longer run or cling to Joshua's legs like a forlorn little boy as the gravity of boxing enveloped him. Instead, as he attempted to withstand 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 appears, to be struck cleanly by a genuine boxer, an Olympic champion and former world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is certainly the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been knocked down, but the result of a clean punch ensured Paul could not get up and waggle his tongue defiantly before the official called the contest to a halt. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a dull ache spread through his jaw, Paul finally grasped how difficult, exhausting, and perilous boxing is at a respectable level of competition.

An Unimpressive Impressive Win for Joshua

Anthony Joshua, it must be noted, was far from convincing amid the bedlam. After his hollow victory, he made a cut-throat motion that suggested a precise and deadly execution when, in truth, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for the majority of the fight. Rather than exuding intimidation or displaying an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had appeared hesitant and awkward for nearly five rounds.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a basic essential in top-level boxing, shaped the outcome. Without the gas to flee any more, and reduced to slipping to the canvas as often as he could for a breather, Paul was rendered helpless by exhaustion. Joshua delivered the vicious ending, but, up to that point, he had seemed a mournful imitation of the boxer he had been in 2017.

Joshua's Post-Fight Assessment

"That was not the finest display," Joshua conceded. "The objective 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 bit longer than expected, but the right hand eventually found its destination."

Joshua commended Paul's bravery but he offered an explanation for his own stilted performance. "He came up against a genuine competitor tonight that's had a fifteen-month layoff," Joshua said, referencing his last loss. "We dusted off the cobwebs, and I am eager to head into 2026."

The Future: Past Their Prime and Rising Stars

In the press conference that followed, a cheerful Joshua tried out a woeful impression 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 careers. Both fighters are on the far side of the peak.

In stark contrast, the most interesting big men in the world are the Ukrainian master and Moses Itauma. Usyk remains the unquestioned king of the division, after defeating both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rising force. The youthful British heavyweight would probably have required less than half the amount 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 wants, and that undoubtedly means additional pitiful celebrity contests. Paul appeared genuinely satisfied and cocky to have had his mandible fractured by a hammer-like right. In the early hours of Saturday morning, he posted an X-ray, with the pair of breaks highlighted in crimson.

That lighthearted nod to the Mexican superstar, a far greater fighter than Joshua but a similarly diminished force, showed that Paul's brazen audacity is undented. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly locate someone else with whom he can earn north of $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before departing to the medical facility, Paul expelled a streak of blood onto the canvas. It was another grim summary of the night as Paul mangled harsh reality with blood-flecked bravado and stated: "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 sport and I'm going to return and keep on winning."