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Jake Paul's mouth gaped wide open, his eyes becoming huge glazed saucers as he collapsed to the mat in shock and awe following a pulverising 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 garbage," said the referee, encapsulating the dismal affair much more succinctly than any observer 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 in a desperate clinch as the serious reality of the sweet science became clear. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the shot that fractured his mandible in two separate places, Paul was caught in an completely dazed moment.

So that is what it is like, and looks, to be struck cleanly by a real boxer, an Olympic champion and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is certainly the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the social media star had been knocked down, but the result of a clean power shot ensured Paul would not be able to rise and taunt his opponent before the official called the charade to a halt. As blood began to trickle from his lips, and a dull ache spread through his jawbone, Paul finally grasped how difficult, exhausting, and perilous boxing is at a respectable standard of competition.

An Unimpressive Commanding Victory for the Victor

Joshua, it must be noted, was not impressive amid the chaos. After his hollow victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that suggested a precise and lethal finish when, in truth, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for the majority of the fight. Instead of exuding intimidation or exhibiting an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had appeared hesitant and crude for nearly five rounds.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a fundamental requirement in elite boxing, shaped the outcome. Without the gas to flee any more, and reduced to slipping to the deck as frequently as he could for a breather, Paul was left helpless by fatigue. Joshua applied the brutal ending, but, up to that point, he had seemed a mournful shadow of the fighter he had been in 2017.

The Winner's Aftermath Assessment

"It wasn't the best performance," Joshua conceded. "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 little more time than expected, but the right hand eventually found its target."

Joshua commended Paul's courage but he offered an explanation for his own stilted performance. "He came up against a genuine competitor tonight that's had a 15-month layoff," Joshua said, mentioning his last defeat. "We shook off the rust, and I can't wait to head into 2026."

The Future: Past Their Prime and New Talent

In the press conference afterwards, a cheerful Joshua tried out a poor impression of Tyson Fury as he demanded a scrap against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will likely have his way, but that bout comes far too late in their careers. Both fighters are on the far side of the peak.

In stark contrast, the most interesting big men in the world remain Oleksandr Usyk and Moses Itauma. Usyk is still the undoubted king of the weight class, after defeating both Joshua and Fury twice. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rapidly ascending force. The youthful British heavyweight would probably have required fewer than half the number of rounds that Joshua required to knock Paul into a appropriately astonished stupor.

Paul's Unbowed Response

But the public receives what the public desires, and that undoubtedly means additional low-quality celebrity contests. Paul appeared truly proud and brash to have had his mandible fractured by a hammer-like right. In the wee hours of the next day, he shared an radiograph, with the two fractures marked in red.

That lighthearted nod to the Mexican superstar, a far greater fighter than Joshua but a equally faded presence, showed that Paul's brazen audacity remains unbroken. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly find someone else with whom he can earn more than $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before departing to the hospital, Paul expelled a streak of blood onto the canvas. It was another bleak symbol of the evening as Paul mangled blunt truth with gory bravado and stated: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A proper ass-whipping from one of the greatest to ever step in the ring. I adore this sport and I'm going to return and continue winning."