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Jake Paul's jaw dropped agape, his expression turning to wide, stunned circles as he sank to the canvas in shock and awe following a devastating right hand from Anthony Joshua. It looked as if Paul was trying to say "Wow!" as the severity of the impact sank in to his scrambled senses.

"The audience didn't spend money to see this garbage," said the referee, summing up the sorry spectacle much more succinctly than any observer else managed to.

Trapped in a neutral 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 boxing enveloped him. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the punch that fractured his mandible in two distinct locations, Paul was caught in an utterly stunned moment.

So this is how it is like, and appears, to be struck cleanly by a real professional fighter, an Olympic champion and former world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is certainly the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been knocked down, but the result of a clean punch meant Paul would not be able to rise and waggle his tongue defiantly before the referee called the contest over. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a numbing throb spread through his jaw, Paul finally grasped how hard, exhausting, and dangerous boxing is at a decent level of professionalism.

A Far From Impressive Victory for Joshua

Joshua, it must be noted, was far from convincing amid the chaos. After his empty victory, he made a cut-throat motion that hinted at a precise and deadly execution when, in reality, Joshua had appeared exasperated for the majority of the fight. Rather than exuding intimidation or exhibiting an iron certainty, Joshua had seemed tentative and crude for nearly five stanzas.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a basic essential in top-level boxing, shaped the result. Lacking the stamina to escape any longer, and resorting to falling to the canvas as often as he could for a rest, Paul was rendered defenseless by fatigue. Joshua applied the vicious finish, but, until then, he had looked like a mournful imitation of the fighter he had been in 2017.

The Winner's Post-Fight Comments

"That was not the finest performance," Joshua admitted. "The end goal was to get Jake Paul, corner him and hurt him. That has been the request, and that's what was on my mind. It took a bit longer than expected, but the straight right eventually reached its destination."

Joshua commended Paul's courage but he added an excuse for his own labored showing. "He faced a genuine competitor tonight that's had a fifteen-month layoff," Joshua said, referencing his last defeat. "We shook off the rust, and I am eager to head into 2026."

The Future: Past Their Prime and Rising Stars

In the post-fight interview afterwards, a jovial Joshua tried out a woeful imitation of Tyson Fury as he demanded a fight against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will likely get his wish, but that bout comes much too late in their professional journeys. Both fighters are on the far side of the hill.

In contrast, the most interesting heavyweights in the world are the Ukrainian master and Moses Itauma. Usyk remains the undoubted ruler of the division, having beaten both Joshua and Fury twice. At the same time, Itauma is a rising force. The young British heavyweight likely have required fewer than half the amount of three-minute periods that Joshua needed to send Paul into a suitably wowed stupor.

The Defeated Fighter's Unbowed Response

But the public gets what the public wants, and that undoubtedly means additional low-quality celebrity contests. Paul appeared truly satisfied and brash to have had his mandible fractured by a hammer-like right. In the wee hours of the next day, he posted an X-ray, with the two fractures marked in red.

That jokey nod to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a far greater fighter than Joshua but a similarly faded presence, demonstrated that Paul's comic chutzpah remains unbroken. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will soon find someone else with whom he can earn north of $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before departing to the medical facility, Paul expelled a streak of blood onto the ring floor. It was one more bleak 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 ass-whipping from one of the greatest to ever step in the ring. I love this sport and I'm going to return and keep on winning."