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Jake Paul's jaw dropped agape, his eyes becoming wide, stunned circles as he sank to the canvas in stunned disbelief after 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 spend money to see this crap," snapped the referee, encapsulating the dismal affair far more succinctly than anyone else managed to.

Trapped in a corner of the ring in the middle of 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 became clear. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the punch that fractured his mandible in two distinct locations, Paul was lost in an utterly dazed moment.

So this is how it feels, and appears, to be struck cleanly by a genuine professional fighter, an Olympic gold medallist and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is certainly the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the social media star had been sent to the floor, but the consequences of a clean punch meant Paul could not rise and taunt his opponent before the referee called the contest to a halt. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a dull ache spread through his jaw, Paul at last grasped how hard, exhausting, and dangerous boxing is at a decent level of professionalism.

An Unimpressive Commanding Win for the Victor

Anthony Joshua, it must be noted, was far from convincing amid the chaos. After his empty victory, he made a cut-throat motion that suggested a clinical and lethal execution when, in truth, Joshua had appeared exasperated for most of the contest. Rather than exuding intimidation or exhibiting an iron certainty, Joshua had seemed hesitant and crude for almost five rounds.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a fundamental requirement in top-level boxing, dictated the result. Lacking the stamina to flee any more, and resorting to falling to the canvas as frequently as he could for a rest, Paul was left defenseless by exhaustion. Joshua applied the brutal finish, but, up to that point, he had looked like a mournful imitation of the fighter he had been in 2017.

Joshua's Aftermath Assessment

"It wasn't the finest performance," Joshua admitted. "The objective was to catch Jake Paul, pin him down and hurt him. That has been the request, and that's what was on my mind. It took a little more time than anticipated, but the straight right finally reached its destination."

Joshua praised Paul's bravery but he offered an explanation for his own stilted showing. "He faced a real fighter tonight that's had a fifteen-month layoff," Joshua said, referencing his last defeat. "We shook off the rust, and I am eager to roll into 2026."

What Comes Next: Past Their Prime and Rising Stars

In the post-fight interview afterwards, a jovial Joshua tried out a woeful imitation of his domestic rival as he called for a scrap against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will probably have his way, but that matchup comes far too late in their professional journeys. Both men are on the far side of the hill.

In contrast, the most compelling heavyweights in the world remain Oleksandr Usyk and Moses Itauma. Usyk remains the unquestioned ruler of the weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. At the same time, Itauma is a rapidly ascending talent. The youthful 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 Response

But the public gets what the public wants, and that undoubtedly means additional pitiful celebrity contests. Paul appeared genuinely proud and brash to have had his mandible fractured by a sledgehammer right. In the early hours of Saturday morning, he shared an radiograph, with the pair of breaks highlighted in crimson.

That jokey nod to the Mexican superstar, a far greater fighter than Joshua but a equally faded presence, demonstrated that Paul's comic chutzpah is unbroken. 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 leaving for the hospital, Paul spat a streak of blood onto the canvas. It was one more bleak summary of the evening as Paul mangled harsh reality with blood-flecked bravado and said: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A proper beating from one of the best to ever do it. I adore this shit and I'm going to return and keep on winning."