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Jake Paul's mouth gaped agape, 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 severity of the blow sank in to his scrambled senses.

"The fans didn't spend money to see this crap," snapped the referee, summing up the sorry affair far more effectively than any observer else managed to.

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 attempted to withstand the punch that broke his jaw in two distinct locations, Paul was caught in an completely dazed moment.

So this is how it is like, and appears, to be struck cleanly by a genuine boxer, an Olympic champion and former world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is certainly the word.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been knocked down, but the result of a proper punch ensured Paul could not get up and taunt his opponent before the official waved the charade over. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a numbing throb radiated through his jaw, Paul finally understood how hard, exhausting, and dangerous boxing is at a decent level of competition.

A Far From Commanding Win for Joshua

Anthony Joshua, it must be noted, was far from convincing amid the chaos. After his empty victory, he made a cut-throat motion that hinted at a clinical and lethal finish when, in reality, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for the majority of the contest. Rather than exuding intimidation or exhibiting an iron certainty, Joshua had seemed tentative and crude for nearly five stanzas.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a basic essential in elite boxing, shaped the outcome. Without the gas to escape any more, and resorting to slipping to the deck as frequently as he could for a rest, Paul was left helpless by exhaustion. Joshua delivered the vicious ending, but, until then, he had looked like a sad imitation of the boxer he had been in 2017.

Joshua's Post-Fight Comments

"That was not the best performance," Joshua conceded. "The end goal was to catch Jake Paul, corner him and do damage. That has been the plan, and that's what was on my mind. It took a little more time than anticipated, but the right hand eventually reached its destination."

Joshua praised Paul's courage but he offered an explanation for his own stilted performance. "He faced a real fighter tonight that's had a 15-month layoff," Joshua said, mentioning his previous loss. "We dusted off the rust, and I can't wait to roll into 2026."

What Comes Next: Past Their Prime and Rising Stars

In the post-fight interview afterwards, a cheerful Joshua tried out a poor imitation of Tyson Fury as he demanded a scrap against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will likely have his way, but that bout comes much too late in their professional journeys. Both men are on the far side of the hill.

In contrast, the most compelling heavyweights in the world are Oleksandr Usyk and the British prospect. 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 likely have required less than half the number of three-minute periods that Joshua required to knock Paul into a appropriately astonished stupor.

Paul's Unbowed Reaction

But the public gets what the public wants, and that undoubtedly means more pitiful celebrity contests. Paul seemed genuinely proud and brash to have had his jaw broken by a hammer-like right. In the early hours of the next day, he shared an radiograph, with the pair of breaks highlighted in red.

That lighthearted nod to the Mexican superstar, a much superior boxer than Joshua but a similarly faded force, showed that Paul's comic chutzpah is undented. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will soon find another opponent with whom he can make more than $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before departing to the hospital, Paul spat 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 said: "I think my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A proper ass-whipping from one of the best to ever step in the ring. I love this sport and I'm going to return and continue winning."