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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's jaw dropped agape, his eyes becoming wide, stunned circles as he sank to the canvas in stunned disbelief after a devastating right hand from Anthony Joshua. It appeared as if Paul was attempting to say "Whoa!" as the force of the impact registered to his rattled senses.

"The fans didn't pay to see this rubbish," said the referee, encapsulating the sorry affair far more effectively than anyone else could.

Pinned in a neutral corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could not retreat or hold on to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the gravity of the sweet science enveloped him. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the punch that fractured his mandible in two separate places, Paul was lost in an utterly stunned moment.

So that is what it feels, and appears, to be hit hard by a genuine professional fighter, an Olympic champion and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is certainly the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the social media star had been knocked down, but the result of a clean punch meant Paul would not be able to get up and waggle his tongue defiantly before the official called the charade over. As blood began to trickle from his mouth, and a numbing throb spread through his jaw, Paul at last grasped how hard, exhausting, and perilous boxing is at a decent level of professionalism.

An Unimpressive Commanding Victory for the Victor

Joshua, it must be noted, was not impressive during the chaos. After his hollow victory, he made a cut-throat motion that suggested a clinical and deadly finish when, in reality, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for the majority of the fight. Instead of exuding intimidation or exhibiting an iron certainty, Joshua had seemed tentative and crude for almost five rounds.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a fundamental requirement in top-level boxing, dictated the outcome. Without the gas to escape any longer, and reduced to falling to the deck as often as he could for a breather, Paul was left defenseless by fatigue. Joshua applied the brutal finish, but, up to that point, he had looked like a mournful imitation of the fighter he was in 2017.

Joshua's Post-Fight Comments

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

Joshua commended Paul's courage but he offered an explanation for his own labored performance. "He faced a real fighter tonight that's had a fifteen-month layoff," Joshua said, mentioning 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 press conference afterwards, a jovial Joshua attempted a poor imitation of his domestic rival as he demanded a fight against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will probably get his wish, but that matchup comes far too late in their professional journeys. Both fighters 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 ruler of the weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. At the same time, Itauma is a rapidly ascending force. The young British heavyweight likely have required fewer than half the amount of three-minute periods that Joshua required to knock Paul into a suitably astonished state.

Paul's Unbowed Reaction

But the public gets what the public wants, and that certainly means more low-quality crossover fights. Paul appeared genuinely satisfied and cocky to have had his mandible fractured by a sledgehammer right. In the wee hours of the next day, he shared an radiograph, with the two fractures highlighted in red.

That lighthearted nod to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a much superior fighter than Joshua but a similarly diminished presence, showed that Paul's brazen audacity is undented. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will soon find someone else with whom he can earn more than $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before departing to the medical facility, Paul spat a tracer of blood onto the ring floor. It was one more bleak symbol of the evening as Paul mixed harsh reality with gory bullshit and stated: "I think my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A proper beating from one of the greatest to ever step in the ring. I love this sport and I'm going to come back and continue winning."