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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's mouth gaped wide open, his expression turning to wide, stunned circles as he collapsed to the canvas in stunned disbelief following a devastating right hand from Anthony Joshua. It looked as if Paul was trying to say "Whoa!" as the force of the impact sank in to his scrambled senses.

"Those watching didn't pay to see this garbage," snapped the referee, summing up the dismal spectacle much more succinctly 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 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 stunned moment.

So this is how it is like, and looks, to be struck cleanly by a real professional fighter, an Olympic champion and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is certainly the word.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been knocked down, but the result of a clean power shot ensured Paul could not get up and waggle his tongue defiantly before the official called the contest over. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a dull ache spread through his jawbone, Paul finally grasped how difficult, exhausting, and perilous boxing is at a respectable level of competition.

A Far From Impressive Victory for the Victor

Anthony Joshua, it should be stressed, was far from convincing amid the chaos. After his empty victory, he performed a cut-throat motion that suggested a precise and deadly execution when, in truth, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for the majority of the contest. Rather than exuding intimidation or exhibiting an iron certainty, Joshua had seemed hesitant and crude for almost five rounds.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a fundamental requirement in elite boxing, dictated the outcome. Lacking the stamina to escape any more, and resorting to falling to the deck as often as he could for a rest, Paul was left helpless by exhaustion. Joshua applied the vicious ending, but, until then, he had seemed a mournful shadow of the fighter he was in 2017.

The Winner's Post-Fight Assessment

"It wasn't the best performance," Joshua conceded. "The objective was to catch Jake Paul, pin him down and hurt him. That has been the request, and that's what was on my mind. It took a bit longer than anticipated, but the right hand finally found its destination."

Joshua commended Paul's courage but he added an explanation for his own labored performance. "He faced a real fighter tonight that's had a fifteen-month layoff," Joshua said, referencing his last loss. "We dusted off the cobwebs, and I am eager to head into 2026."

The Future: Past Their Prime and New Talent

In the post-fight interview that followed, a jovial Joshua attempted a woeful impression of his domestic rival as he called for a scrap against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will likely have his way, but that matchup comes far too late in their professional journeys. Both men are on the far side of the peak.

In contrast, the most compelling heavyweights in the world are Oleksandr Usyk and the British prospect. Usyk is still the unquestioned 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 three-minute periods that Joshua needed to knock Paul into a appropriately wowed stupor.

Paul's Unbowed Response

But the fans gets what the public wants, and that certainly means additional pitiful celebrity fights. Paul seemed genuinely satisfied and cocky to have had his mandible fractured by a sledgehammer right. In the wee hours of Saturday morning, he posted an radiograph, with the pair of breaks marked in crimson.

That jokey reference to the Mexican superstar, a far greater boxer than Joshua but a similarly diminished presence, showed that Paul's brazen audacity remains undented. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will soon find someone else with whom he can earn more than $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before departing to the medical facility, Paul spat a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was one more grim summary of the evening as Paul mangled harsh reality with gory bullshit and stated: "I think my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A proper ass-whipping from one of the greatest to ever step in the ring. I love this sport and I'm going to come back and keep on winning."