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Jake Paul's jaw dropped wide open, his eyes becoming wide, stunned circles as he collapsed to the canvas in stunned disbelief following a pulverising right hand from Anthony Joshua. It looked as if Paul was trying to utter "Wow!" as the severity of the blow sank in to his rattled senses.

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

Trapped in a corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could no longer retreat or cling to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the gravity of the sweet science became clear. Instead, as he tried to absorb the shot that fractured his mandible in two separate places, Paul was caught in an utterly dazed moment.

So this is how it feels, and looks, to be hit hard by a genuine boxer, an Olympic gold medallist and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is indeed the word.

It was the fourth time the social media star had been knocked down, but the result of a proper punch ensured Paul would not be able to get up and waggle his tongue defiantly before the official waved the contest to a halt. As blood began to trickle from his lips, and a dull ache spread through his jawbone, Paul finally grasped how difficult, grueling, and perilous boxing is at a respectable standard of professionalism.

A Far From Impressive Win for the Victor

Joshua, it must be noted, was not impressive during the bedlam. After his empty victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that suggested a clinical and lethal finish when, in truth, Joshua had appeared exasperated for most of the contest. Instead of glowering with menace or displaying an iron certainty, Joshua had appeared hesitant and crude for almost five stanzas.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a fundamental requirement in top-level boxing, shaped the outcome. Lacking the stamina to escape any longer, and resorting to falling to the canvas as often as he could for a breather, Paul was rendered helpless by exhaustion. Joshua applied the brutal ending, but, up to that point, he had seemed a sad shadow of the fighter he had been in 2017.

The Winner's Post-Fight Assessment

"That was not the best performance," Joshua conceded. "The objective 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 bit longer than expected, but the straight right finally reached its target."

Joshua commended Paul's courage but he added an explanation for his own stilted performance. "He faced a genuine competitor tonight that's had a fifteen-month layoff," Joshua said, mentioning his previous loss. "We shook off the cobwebs, and I am eager to head into 2026."

What Comes Next: Faded Forces and New Talent

In the press conference that followed, a jovial Joshua tried out a poor impression of his domestic rival as he demanded a scrap against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will probably have his way, but that bout comes much too late in their professional journeys. Both fighters are on the far side of the hill.

In stark contrast, the most compelling heavyweights in the world remain the Ukrainian master and the British prospect. Usyk is still the unquestioned ruler of the division, having beaten both Joshua and Fury twice. At the same time, Itauma is a rising talent. The youthful British heavyweight would probably have required less than half the number of rounds that Joshua required to send Paul into a suitably astonished state.

The Defeated Fighter's Unbowed Response

But the public gets what the public wants, and that certainly means more pitiful crossover contests. Paul seemed genuinely proud and cocky to have had his mandible fractured by a hammer-like right. In the early hours of Saturday morning, he shared an X-ray, with the two fractures marked in red.

That jokey reference to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a much superior boxer than Joshua but a similarly diminished force, showed that Paul's comic chutzpah is unbroken. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly locate someone else with whom he can make north of $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before leaving for the medical facility, Paul expelled a streak of blood onto the ring floor. It was another grim symbol of the evening as Paul mangled blunt truth with blood-flecked bullshit and said: "I think my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A proper beating from one of the best to ever do it. I adore this sport and I'm going to come back and keep on winning."