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Jake Paul's jaw dropped agape, his eyes becoming huge glazed saucers as he sank to the mat in stunned disbelief following a devastating right hand from the former champion. It appeared as if Paul was trying to say "Whoa!" as the force of the impact registered to his scrambled senses.

"The audience didn't spend money to see this crap," said the referee, encapsulating the dismal spectacle far more succinctly than anyone else managed to.

Pinned in a neutral corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could no longer retreat or cling to Joshua's legs like a forlorn little boy as the serious reality of the sweet science enveloped him. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the punch that fractured his mandible in two distinct locations, Paul was lost in an utterly stunned moment.

So this is how it feels, and looks, to be struck cleanly by a real professional fighter, an Olympic gold medallist and former 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 proper power shot meant Paul could not get up and waggle his tongue defiantly before the official called the charade to a halt. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a numbing throb spread through his jaw, Paul at last grasped how hard, grueling, and perilous boxing is at a respectable level of competition.

A Far From Impressive Win for Joshua

Anthony Joshua, it must be noted, was far from convincing amid the chaos. After his empty victory, he performed a throat-slitting gesture that hinted at a precise and lethal execution when, in truth, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for the majority of the contest. Instead of glowering with menace or displaying an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had seemed hesitant and crude for almost five rounds.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a basic essential in elite boxing, dictated the outcome. Without the gas to flee any more, and resorting to slipping to the deck as often as he could for a rest, Paul was rendered helpless by exhaustion. Joshua delivered the brutal ending, but, until then, he had seemed a sad shadow of the boxer he had been in 2017.

The Winner's Post-Fight Comments

"It wasn't the finest display," Joshua admitted. "The objective was to catch Jake Paul, pin him down and do damage. 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 found its target."

Joshua commended Paul's bravery but he added an explanation for his own stilted showing. "He came up against a real fighter tonight that's had a 15-month hiatus," Joshua said, referencing his last defeat. "We shook off the cobwebs, and I can't wait to roll into 2026."

What Comes Next: Faded Forces and Rising Stars

In the press conference that followed, a jovial Joshua tried out a woeful impression of his domestic rival as he called for a scrap against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will probably get his wish, but that bout comes far too late in their professional journeys. Both fighters are on the downward slope of the peak.

In stark contrast, the most compelling big men in the world remain the Ukrainian master and Moses Itauma. Usyk is still the undoubted ruler of the division, after defeating both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. At the same time, Itauma is a rising talent. The young British heavyweight would probably have needed fewer than half the number of three-minute periods that Joshua needed to knock Paul into a appropriately wowed stupor.

Paul's Defiant Reaction

But the fans gets what the public wants, and that undoubtedly means additional pitiful celebrity contests. Paul seemed genuinely proud and brash to have had his jaw broken by a sledgehammer right. In the wee hours of the next day, he posted an X-ray, with the pair of breaks marked in red.

That lighthearted nod to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, 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 soon locate someone else with whom he can earn north of $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before departing to the medical facility, Paul spat a streak of blood onto the canvas. It was one more bleak summary of the night as Paul mixed blunt truth with gory bravado and stated: "I think my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A nice little ass-whipping from one of the greatest to ever do it. I love this shit and I'm going to return and keep on winning."