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Jake Paul's jaw dropped agape, his expression turning to wide, stunned circles as he sank to the mat in shock and awe after a devastating right hand from Anthony Joshua. It appeared as if Paul was trying to utter "Whoa!" as the severity of the blow registered to his scrambled senses.

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

Pinned in a neutral corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could no longer run or hold on to Joshua's legs like a forlorn little boy as the serious reality of the sweet science became clear. Instead, as he tried to absorb the punch that broke his jaw in two separate places, Paul was caught in an completely stunned moment.

So this is how it feels, and appears, to be struck cleanly by a genuine boxer, an Olympic champion and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is indeed the word.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been sent to the floor, but the consequences of a clean power shot ensured Paul would not be able to rise and taunt his opponent before the official waved the charade to a halt. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a dull ache radiated through his jawbone, Paul at last understood how difficult, exhausting, and perilous boxing is at a respectable standard of professionalism.

An Unimpressive Commanding Victory for Joshua

Joshua, it should be stressed, was not impressive during the bedlam. After his empty victory, he performed a throat-slitting gesture that hinted at a precise and deadly execution when, in truth, Joshua had appeared exasperated for the majority of the contest. Instead of glowering with menace or exhibiting an iron certainty, Joshua had appeared tentative and crude for nearly five rounds.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a fundamental requirement in elite boxing, shaped the result. Without the gas to flee any longer, and reduced to slipping to the deck as often as he could for a breather, Paul was left defenseless by fatigue. Joshua delivered the brutal ending, but, up to that point, he had seemed a mournful shadow of the boxer he was in 2017.

Joshua's Post-Fight Comments

"That was not the finest performance," Joshua conceded. "The objective was to catch Jake Paul, corner him and hurt him. That has been the plan, and that's what was on my thoughts. It took a bit longer than expected, but the right hand eventually reached its target."

Joshua commended Paul's courage but he added an excuse for his own labored performance. "He came up against a genuine competitor tonight that's had a fifteen-month layoff," Joshua said, referencing his last defeat. "We shook off the cobwebs, 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 poor impression of Tyson Fury as he called for a fight against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will likely get his wish, but that matchup comes much too late in their careers. Both men are on the far side of the hill.

In contrast, the most interesting big men in the world remain the Ukrainian master and Moses Itauma. Usyk remains the unquestioned king of the division, after defeating both Joshua and Fury twice. At the same time, Itauma is a rising talent. The young British heavyweight likely have needed less than half the number of rounds that Joshua required to knock Paul into a suitably astonished state.

The Defeated Fighter's Defiant Reaction

But the fans gets what the public desires, and that certainly means more pitiful crossover contests. Paul appeared genuinely proud and brash to have had his jaw broken by a hammer-like right. In the wee hours of Saturday morning, he shared an X-ray, with the pair of breaks marked in red.

That jokey reference to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a far greater boxer than Joshua but a equally diminished force, demonstrated that Paul's brazen audacity is unbroken. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly locate another opponent with whom he can make north of $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before departing to the hospital, Paul expelled a tracer of blood onto the canvas. It was another bleak summary of the evening as Paul mangled blunt truth with gory bullshit and stated: "I think my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A nice little beating from one of the best to ever step in the ring. I love this sport and I'm going to come back and keep on winning."