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Jake Paul's mouth gaped wide open, his expression turning to huge glazed saucers as he collapsed to the canvas in stunned disbelief after a devastating right hand from the former champion. It appeared as if Paul was trying to say "Wow!" as the force of the impact sank in to his rattled senses.

"Those watching didn't spend money to see this crap," said the referee, encapsulating the sorry affair far more succinctly than any observer else managed to.

Trapped in a neutral corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could not retreat or cling to Joshua's legs like a forlorn little boy as the serious reality of boxing became clear. Instead, as he tried to absorb the punch that fractured his mandible in two distinct locations, Paul was lost in an completely dazed moment.

So that is what it feels, and looks, to be hit hard by a real boxer, an Olympic champion and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is certainly the word.

It was the fourth time the social media star had been sent to the floor, but the consequences of a proper power shot meant Paul could not get up and taunt his opponent before the official waved the charade to a halt. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a dull ache spread through his jawbone, Paul finally understood how hard, grueling, and perilous boxing is at a respectable standard of competition.

A Far From Impressive Win for Joshua

Joshua, it should be stressed, was not impressive amid the bedlam. After his hollow victory, he performed a throat-slitting gesture that hinted at a precise and lethal finish when, in truth, Joshua had appeared exasperated for the majority of the contest. Instead of exuding intimidation or displaying an iron certainty, Joshua had seemed tentative and crude for nearly five stanzas.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a fundamental requirement in top-level boxing, dictated the result. Lacking the stamina to escape any more, and reduced to slipping to the canvas as frequently as he could for a breather, Paul was left helpless by exhaustion. Joshua delivered the vicious ending, but, until then, he had seemed a sad shadow of the fighter he was in 2017.

Joshua's Aftermath Assessment

"That was not the finest display," 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 thoughts. It took a bit longer than expected, but the straight right finally found its target."

Joshua commended Paul's bravery but he offered an excuse for his own stilted performance. "He faced a real fighter tonight that's had a fifteen-month hiatus," Joshua said, mentioning his last loss. "We shook off the cobwebs, and I am eager to head into 2026."

The Future: Faded Forces and New Talent

In the post-fight interview afterwards, a jovial Joshua tried out a woeful imitation of Tyson Fury as he demanded a fight against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will likely have his way, but that matchup comes far too late in their careers. Both fighters are on the far side of the peak.

In contrast, the most compelling big men in the world remain Oleksandr Usyk and Moses Itauma. Usyk remains the unquestioned ruler of the weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury twice. At the same time, Itauma is a rising force. The youthful British heavyweight would probably have needed less than half the amount of rounds that Joshua required to knock Paul into a suitably astonished stupor.

Paul's Defiant Reaction

But the fans gets what the public wants, and that undoubtedly means additional low-quality crossover fights. Paul appeared genuinely satisfied and cocky to have had his mandible fractured 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 jokey nod to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a much superior boxer than Joshua but a similarly faded presence, showed that Paul's comic chutzpah is undented. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly find someone else with whom he can make more than $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before departing to the hospital, Paul spat a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was one more bleak symbol of the evening as Paul mangled blunt truth with blood-flecked bullshit and stated: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A nice little beating from one of the greatest to ever do it. I adore this shit and I'm going to return and continue winning."