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Jake Paul's jaw dropped wide open, his eyes becoming huge glazed saucers as he collapsed to the canvas in stunned disbelief after a pulverising right hand from Anthony Joshua. It looked as if Paul was attempting to utter "Wow!" as the severity of the impact registered to his scrambled senses.

"The fans didn't pay to see this rubbish," said the referee, summing up the sorry spectacle far more effectively than anyone else managed to.

Pinned in a neutral corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could not run or hold on to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the gravity of the sweet science enveloped him. Instead, as he tried to absorb the punch that fractured his mandible in two distinct locations, Paul was caught in an completely dazed moment.

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

It was the fourth time the social media star had been sent to the floor, but the result of a clean power shot meant Paul could not rise and taunt his opponent before the referee waved the charade over. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a numbing throb radiated through his jaw, Paul at last grasped how difficult, grueling, and dangerous boxing is at a respectable level of professionalism.

An Unimpressive Impressive Victory for the Victor

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 clinical and lethal finish when, in reality, Joshua had appeared exasperated for the majority of the fight. Instead of exuding intimidation or exhibiting an iron certainty, Joshua had appeared tentative and awkward for nearly five stanzas.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a basic essential in top-level boxing, shaped the outcome. Lacking the stamina to flee any more, and resorting to falling to the canvas as often as he could for a rest, Paul was left defenseless by exhaustion. Joshua delivered 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 Post-Fight Comments

"That was not the best performance," Joshua admitted. "The objective was to catch Jake Paul, corner him 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 eventually reached its destination."

Joshua commended Paul's courage but he added an excuse for his own stilted 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 am eager to roll into 2026."

What Comes Next: Past Their Prime and New Talent

In the post-fight interview afterwards, a cheerful Joshua tried out a woeful impression of Tyson Fury as he demanded a fight against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will probably get his wish, but that matchup comes much too late in their careers. Both men are on the downward slope of the peak.

In stark contrast, the most compelling big men in the world remain Oleksandr Usyk and the British prospect. Usyk remains the undoubted king of the weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. At the same time, Itauma is a rising talent. The young British heavyweight likely have needed fewer than half the amount of rounds that Joshua required to send Paul into a appropriately astonished stupor.

The Defeated Fighter's Unbowed Response

But the public gets what the public desires, and that certainly means more pitiful celebrity contests. Paul appeared genuinely satisfied and brash to have had his mandible fractured by a hammer-like right. In the wee hours of the next day, he posted an X-ray, with the pair of breaks highlighted in crimson.

That jokey nod to the Mexican superstar, a much superior fighter than Joshua but a similarly diminished presence, demonstrated that Paul's comic chutzpah is undented. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will soon locate another opponent with whom he can earn north of $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before leaving for the medical facility, Paul expelled a streak of blood onto the canvas. It was one more bleak symbol of the evening as Paul mixed harsh reality with blood-flecked bullshit and stated: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A nice little ass-whipping from one of the greatest to ever step in the ring. I adore this shit and I'm going to return and keep on winning."