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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's jaw dropped wide open, his eyes becoming wide, stunned circles as he sank to the canvas in shock and awe following a pulverising right hand from Anthony Joshua. It looked as if Paul was trying to utter "Wow!" as the severity of the impact registered to his scrambled senses.

"The audience didn't spend money to see this garbage," said the referee, encapsulating the sorry affair much more succinctly than anyone else could.

Pinned in a neutral corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could no longer run or hold on to Joshua's legs like a forlorn little boy as the gravity of boxing enveloped him. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the shot that broke his jaw in two separate places, Paul was caught in an utterly dazed moment.

So this is how it feels, and appears, to be struck cleanly by a genuine professional fighter, an Olympic champion and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is indeed the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the social media star had been knocked down, but the result of a proper power shot meant Paul would not be able to rise and taunt his opponent before the referee waved the charade to a halt. As blood began to trickle from his lips, and a dull ache radiated through his jawbone, Paul finally understood how difficult, grueling, and perilous boxing is at a respectable level of professionalism.

A Far From Commanding Win for the Victor

Anthony Joshua, it should be stressed, was not impressive amid the chaos. After his hollow victory, he performed a throat-slitting gesture that hinted at a precise and lethal finish when, in truth, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for the majority of the fight. Rather than exuding intimidation or exhibiting an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had seemed hesitant and awkward for almost five rounds.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a basic essential in elite boxing, shaped the result. Without the gas to escape any longer, and resorting to slipping to the canvas as frequently as he could for a rest, Paul was left defenseless by fatigue. Joshua applied the vicious finish, but, up to that point, he had looked like a mournful imitation of the fighter he was in 2017.

The Winner's Aftermath Assessment

"That was not the finest display," Joshua admitted. "The end goal was to get Jake Paul, corner him and do damage. That has been the request, and that's what was on my mind. It took a bit longer than anticipated, but the straight right eventually found its target."

Joshua commended Paul's courage but he offered an explanation for his own stilted showing. "He faced a real fighter tonight that's had a fifteen-month layoff," Joshua said, referencing his previous loss. "We dusted off the cobwebs, and I can't wait to head into 2026."

The Future: Past Their Prime and Rising Stars

In the post-fight interview that followed, a cheerful Joshua tried out a poor impression of his domestic rival as he called for a fight against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will likely have his way, but that matchup comes much too late in their careers. Both fighters are on the downward slope of the hill.

In contrast, the most interesting big men in the world are Oleksandr Usyk and Moses Itauma. Usyk remains the undoubted king of the division, after defeating both Joshua and Fury twice. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rapidly ascending force. The young British heavyweight would probably have needed less than half the number of three-minute periods that Joshua required to send Paul into a appropriately astonished state.

The Defeated Fighter's Unbowed Response

But the public gets what the public wants, and that undoubtedly means more pitiful celebrity fights. Paul appeared truly proud and brash to have had his jaw broken by a hammer-like right. In the early hours of Saturday morning, he posted an radiograph, with the two fractures highlighted in red.

That lighthearted nod to the Mexican superstar, a far greater fighter 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 another opponent with whom he can make north of $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before leaving for the medical facility, Paul spat a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was another grim symbol of the night as Paul mixed blunt truth with blood-flecked bravado and said: "I think my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A proper beating 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."