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Jake Paul's mouth gaped agape, his expression turning to wide, stunned circles as he collapsed to the mat in shock and awe following a devastating right hand from Anthony Joshua. It appeared as if Paul was attempting to utter "Wow!" as the severity of the blow sank in to his rattled senses.

"The audience didn't pay to see this rubbish," said the referee, encapsulating the sorry affair much more effectively than any observer else managed to.

Pinned in a corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could not retreat or cling to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the serious reality of boxing enveloped him. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the shot that fractured his mandible in two separate places, Paul was lost in an utterly stunned moment.

So that is what it feels, and looks, to be struck cleanly by a real professional fighter, an Olympic champion and former world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is indeed the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the social media star had been knocked down, but the consequences of a clean power shot ensured Paul could not get up and waggle his tongue defiantly before the referee waved the contest to a halt. As blood began to trickle from his mouth, and a dull ache radiated through his jawbone, Paul finally grasped how hard, exhausting, and dangerous boxing is at a respectable level of professionalism.

A Far From Impressive Victory for Joshua

Anthony Joshua, it should be stressed, was far from convincing amid the bedlam. After his hollow victory, he performed a cut-throat motion that hinted at a precise and lethal execution when, in truth, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for most of the contest. Rather than exuding intimidation or displaying an iron certainty, Joshua had seemed tentative and awkward for almost five rounds.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a basic essential in top-level boxing, dictated the outcome. Lacking the stamina to escape any more, and resorting to slipping to the deck as frequently as he could for a breather, Paul was left helpless by fatigue. Joshua delivered the brutal ending, but, until then, he had seemed a sad imitation of the fighter he had been in 2017.

The Winner's Post-Fight Assessment

"That was not the finest display," Joshua conceded. "The end goal was to get Jake Paul, corner him and hurt him. That has been the plan, and that's what was on my mind. It took a little more time than expected, but the straight right eventually found its destination."

Joshua praised Paul's bravery but he offered an explanation for his own labored showing. "He came up against a real fighter tonight that's had a fifteen-month hiatus," Joshua said, referencing his previous defeat. "We shook off the rust, and I can't wait to head into 2026."

The Future: Faded Forces and New Talent

In the press conference that followed, a jovial Joshua attempted a poor impression of his domestic rival as he called for a scrap against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will probably have his way, but that matchup comes much too late in their professional journeys. Both men are on the far side of the hill.

In stark contrast, the most interesting heavyweights in the world are Oleksandr Usyk and the British prospect. Usyk is still the unquestioned ruler of the weight class, after defeating both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rapidly ascending talent. The youthful British heavyweight likely have required less than half the amount of rounds that Joshua needed to send Paul into a suitably astonished stupor.

The Defeated Fighter's Unbowed Response

But the public gets what the public wants, and that undoubtedly means more low-quality crossover contests. Paul seemed genuinely proud and cocky to have had his mandible fractured by a sledgehammer right. In the wee hours of the next day, he shared an radiograph, with the two fractures highlighted in red.

That lighthearted nod to the Mexican superstar, a far greater fighter than Joshua but a equally diminished force, demonstrated that Paul's brazen audacity remains undented. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly locate another opponent with whom he can earn more than $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before departing to the hospital, Paul expelled a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was one more bleak symbol of the night as Paul mixed blunt truth with gory bullshit and stated: "I believe 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 shit and I'm going to come back and keep on winning."