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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's mouth gaped agape, his eyes becoming wide, stunned circles as he sank to the mat in stunned disbelief after 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 rattled senses.

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

Trapped in a neutral corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could not run 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 punch that fractured his mandible in two separate places, Paul was caught in an utterly stunned moment.

So that is what it is like, and appears, 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 sent to the floor, but the result of a proper punch ensured Paul would not be able to rise 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, exhausting, and dangerous boxing is at a respectable standard of competition.

A Far From Impressive Victory for Joshua

Anthony Joshua, it must be noted, was far from convincing amid the bedlam. After his hollow victory, he made a cut-throat motion that hinted at a precise and lethal finish when, in reality, Joshua had appeared exasperated for most of the fight. Rather than glowering with menace or displaying an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had appeared hesitant and awkward for almost five stanzas.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a basic essential in elite boxing, shaped the outcome. Without the gas to flee any more, and reduced to falling to the deck as often as he could for a breather, Paul was rendered helpless by fatigue. Joshua applied the vicious ending, but, up to that point, he had looked like a sad shadow of the fighter he was in 2017.

Joshua's Aftermath Comments

"That was not the best display," Joshua admitted. "The end goal was to catch Jake Paul, corner him and hurt him. That has been the plan, and that's what was on my mind. It took a bit longer than anticipated, but the right hand finally found its target."

Joshua praised Paul's courage but he added an excuse for his own labored performance. "He faced a genuine competitor tonight that's had a fifteen-month hiatus," Joshua said, mentioning his last defeat. "We shook off the rust, and I am eager to head into 2026."

The Future: Past Their Prime and New Talent

In the post-fight interview afterwards, a jovial Joshua tried out a poor impression of his domestic rival as he called for a scrap against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will likely get his wish, but that bout comes much too late in their professional journeys. Both fighters are on the far side of the hill.

In contrast, the most interesting heavyweights in the world are the Ukrainian master and Moses Itauma. Usyk is still the unquestioned king of the weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury twice. At the same time, Itauma is a rapidly ascending talent. The youthful British heavyweight likely have needed fewer than half the amount of three-minute periods that Joshua needed to knock Paul into a appropriately astonished stupor.

The Defeated Fighter's Unbowed Response

But the public receives what the public desires, and that certainly means additional low-quality crossover fights. Paul appeared genuinely proud and cocky to have had his jaw broken by a hammer-like right. In the early hours of Saturday morning, he posted an radiograph, with the pair of breaks marked in red.

That lighthearted reference to the Mexican superstar, a much superior boxer than Joshua but a similarly diminished presence, demonstrated that Paul's brazen audacity remains undented. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly locate someone else with whom he can earn north of $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before leaving for the medical facility, Paul expelled a streak of blood onto the canvas. It was another grim summary of the evening as Paul mangled harsh reality with gory bullshit and said: "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 return and keep on winning."