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Jake Paul's mouth gaped wide open, his eyes becoming wide, stunned circles as he sank to the mat in stunned disbelief following a pulverising right hand from Anthony Joshua. It appeared as if Paul was attempting to utter "Whoa!" as the severity of the blow sank in to his rattled senses.

"The audience didn't pay to see this rubbish," snapped the referee, summing up the sorry spectacle far more succinctly than any observer else managed to.

Trapped in a neutral corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could not 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 tried to absorb the shot that fractured his mandible in two separate places, Paul was lost in an utterly stunned moment.

So that is what it is like, and appears, to be struck cleanly by a genuine boxer, an Olympic gold medallist and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is indeed the word.

It was the fourth time the social media star had been knocked down, but the result of a proper power shot meant Paul could not get up and waggle his tongue defiantly before the official waved the contest to a halt. As blood began to leak from his lips, and a dull ache radiated through his jaw, Paul at last understood how difficult, grueling, and perilous boxing is at a respectable level of competition.

An Unimpressive Impressive Victory for Joshua

Joshua, it should be stressed, was far from convincing amid the bedlam. After his hollow victory, he made a cut-throat motion that suggested a precise and lethal finish when, in truth, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for the majority of the contest. Rather than glowering with menace or exhibiting an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had appeared tentative 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 escape any longer, and resorting to falling to the canvas as frequently as he could for a breather, Paul was rendered defenseless by exhaustion. Joshua delivered the vicious ending, but, up to that point, he had seemed a sad shadow of the fighter he was in 2017.

The Winner's Post-Fight Comments

"That was not the best performance," Joshua admitted. "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 thoughts. It took a little more time than anticipated, but the straight right eventually reached its destination."

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

The Future: Past Their Prime and New Talent

In the press conference afterwards, a cheerful Joshua tried out a poor imitation of his domestic rival as he demanded a scrap against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will likely get his wish, but that matchup comes far too late in their careers. Both men are on the far side of the peak.

In stark contrast, the most compelling heavyweights in the world are the Ukrainian master and the British prospect. Usyk is still the unquestioned king of the weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury twice. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rising force. The youthful British heavyweight likely have required less than half the number of rounds that Joshua needed to send Paul into a suitably wowed stupor.

The Defeated Fighter's Defiant Response

But the fans receives what the public desires, and that undoubtedly means additional low-quality crossover contests. Paul seemed genuinely proud and cocky to have had his mandible fractured by a hammer-like right. In the wee hours of Saturday morning, he shared 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 equally faded force, demonstrated that Paul's brazen audacity is unbroken. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will soon locate another opponent with whom he can earn more than $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before departing to the medical facility, Paul expelled a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was another bleak summary 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 best to ever do it. I love this sport and I'm going to return and continue winning."