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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's mouth gaped agape, his eyes becoming huge glazed saucers as he sank to the mat in shock and awe after a devastating right hand from Anthony Joshua. It looked as if Paul was attempting to utter "Wow!" as the force of the impact registered to his scrambled senses.

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

Trapped in a 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 enveloped him. Instead, as he tried to absorb the punch that broke his jaw in two distinct locations, 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 champion and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is indeed the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been sent to the floor, but the consequences of a clean power shot meant Paul would not be able to rise and waggle his tongue defiantly before the official called the contest to a halt. As blood began to trickle from his mouth, and a numbing throb spread through his jaw, Paul at last grasped how hard, grueling, and perilous boxing is at a respectable level of professionalism.

A Far From Commanding Win for Joshua

Anthony Joshua, it should be stressed, was not impressive amid the chaos. After his hollow victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that suggested a precise and lethal execution when, in truth, Joshua had appeared exasperated for most of the fight. Instead of exuding intimidation or displaying an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had appeared tentative and awkward for almost five rounds.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a fundamental requirement in elite boxing, shaped the result. Lacking the stamina to flee any more, and resorting to falling to the canvas as often as he could for a rest, Paul was rendered helpless by fatigue. Joshua delivered the brutal finish, but, up to that point, he had looked like a mournful shadow of the boxer he had been in 2017.

Joshua's Aftermath Assessment

"That was not the finest performance," Joshua admitted. "The objective was to catch Jake Paul, pin him down and do damage. That has been the request, and that's what was on my mind. It took a little more time than expected, but the straight right finally reached its target."

Joshua praised Paul's bravery but he added an explanation for his own stilted showing. "He faced a genuine competitor tonight that's had a fifteen-month hiatus," Joshua said, referencing his previous loss. "We dusted off the cobwebs, and I am eager to head into 2026."

What Comes Next: Faded Forces and Rising Stars

In the press conference that followed, a jovial Joshua tried out a poor imitation of Tyson Fury as he demanded a fight against the presently inactive 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 remain the Ukrainian master and Moses Itauma. 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 rapidly ascending talent. 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 stupor.

The Defeated Fighter's Unbowed Reaction

But the public gets what the public wants, and that certainly means additional low-quality crossover contests. Paul seemed truly proud and cocky to have had his mandible fractured by a hammer-like right. In the early hours of the next day, he posted an X-ray, with the two fractures marked in red.

That lighthearted reference to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a far greater fighter than Joshua but a similarly faded force, showed that Paul's comic chutzpah remains unbroken. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will soon find someone else with whom he can make north of $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before departing to the medical facility, Paul spat a streak of blood onto the canvas. It was one more bleak symbol of the evening as Paul mangled harsh reality with blood-flecked bullshit and stated: "I think my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A nice little beating from one of the greatest to ever do it. I love this sport and I'm going to return and keep on winning."