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Jake Paul's jaw dropped agape, his eyes becoming huge glazed saucers as he sank to the mat in shock and awe following a devastating right hand from Anthony Joshua. It looked as if Paul was attempting to say "Wow!" as the severity of the blow registered to his rattled senses.

"The audience didn't pay to see this garbage," said the referee, summing up the sorry spectacle much more effectively than anyone else managed to.

Trapped in a corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could not run or hold on to Joshua's legs like a forlorn little boy as the gravity of boxing became clear. Instead, as he tried to absorb the shot that fractured his mandible in two separate places, Paul was caught in an utterly stunned moment.

So that is what it feels, and looks, to be struck cleanly by a genuine boxer, an Olympic gold medallist and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is certainly the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been sent to the floor, but the consequences of a proper power shot meant Paul could not get up and taunt his opponent before the official called the contest over. As blood began to leak from his lips, and a numbing throb radiated through his jawbone, Paul at last grasped how hard, exhausting, and dangerous boxing is at a decent level of competition.

An Unimpressive Impressive Win for the Victor

Joshua, it must be noted, was not impressive amid the chaos. After his hollow victory, he made a cut-throat motion that hinted at a clinical and deadly execution when, in truth, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for most of the fight. Rather than glowering with menace or exhibiting an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had seemed tentative and awkward 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 deck as frequently as he could for a rest, Paul was rendered defenseless by exhaustion. Joshua delivered the brutal ending, but, up to that point, he had seemed a sad imitation of the boxer he had been in 2017.

The Winner's Aftermath Assessment

"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 thoughts. It took a bit longer than expected, but the straight right finally reached its destination."

Joshua praised Paul's courage but he added an explanation for his own stilted showing. "He came up against a genuine competitor tonight that's had a 15-month hiatus," Joshua said, mentioning his previous loss. "We dusted off the rust, and I can't wait to head into 2026."

What Comes Next: Past Their Prime and New Talent

In the post-fight interview that followed, a cheerful Joshua attempted a poor imitation of his domestic rival as he demanded a scrap against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will probably have his way, but that bout comes far too late in their professional journeys. Both fighters are on the downward slope of the hill.

In contrast, the most compelling heavyweights in the world are the Ukrainian master and Moses Itauma. Usyk remains the unquestioned king of the weight class, after defeating both Joshua and Fury twice. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rapidly ascending talent. The youthful British heavyweight likely have required fewer than half the amount of rounds that Joshua required to knock Paul into a appropriately astonished state.

The Defeated Fighter's Unbowed Reaction

But the public gets what the public wants, and that undoubtedly means additional low-quality crossover fights. Paul seemed genuinely proud and cocky to have had his mandible fractured by a hammer-like right. In the early hours of the next day, he shared an X-ray, with the pair of breaks highlighted in crimson.

That lighthearted nod to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a far greater boxer than Joshua but a equally diminished presence, demonstrated that Paul's brazen audacity remains unbroken. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly locate someone else with whom he can earn north of $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before leaving for the hospital, Paul spat a streak of blood onto the canvas. It was another bleak symbol of the evening as Paul mixed blunt truth with gory bravado and stated: "I think my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A proper beating from one of the best to ever do it. I adore this shit and I'm going to come back and continue winning."