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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's jaw dropped wide open, his eyes becoming wide, stunned circles as he collapsed to the mat in stunned disbelief after a devastating right hand from Anthony Joshua. It looked as if Paul was trying to say "Wow!" as the severity of the blow registered to his rattled senses.

"The fans didn't pay to see this crap," said the referee, summing up the dismal spectacle much more succinctly than anyone else could.

Trapped in a corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could not retreat or cling to Joshua's legs like a forlorn little boy as the gravity of boxing became clear. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the punch that fractured his mandible in two separate places, Paul was caught in an completely dazed moment.

So that is what it is like, and looks, to be struck cleanly by a real professional fighter, an Olympic gold medallist and former world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is indeed the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the social media star had been knocked down, but the consequences of a clean punch ensured Paul could not get up and waggle his tongue defiantly before the referee waved the charade over. As blood began to trickle from his mouth, and a numbing throb spread through his jaw, Paul at last understood how difficult, exhausting, and perilous boxing is at a decent level of competition.

A Far From Commanding Victory for Joshua

Joshua, it should be stressed, was not impressive during the bedlam. After his hollow victory, he performed a cut-throat motion that hinted at a precise and lethal finish when, in truth, Joshua had cut a frustrated figure for the majority of the fight. Instead of glowering with menace or displaying an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had seemed tentative and awkward for nearly five rounds.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a basic essential in elite boxing, shaped the outcome. Without the gas to flee any longer, and reduced to falling to the canvas as frequently as he could for a rest, Paul was left helpless by exhaustion. Joshua delivered the brutal finish, but, up to that point, he had looked like a sad imitation of the fighter he was in 2017.

Joshua's Post-Fight Assessment

"It wasn't the finest display," Joshua admitted. "The objective 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 expected, but the right hand finally found its target."

Joshua commended Paul's bravery but he added an explanation for his own stilted showing. "He came up against a real fighter tonight that's had a fifteen-month layoff," Joshua said, referencing his last loss. "We shook off the rust, and I can't wait to roll into 2026."

What Comes Next: Past Their Prime and Rising Stars

In the post-fight interview afterwards, a jovial Joshua attempted a woeful imitation of Tyson Fury as he demanded a fight against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will likely get his wish, but that matchup comes far too late in their careers. Both men are on the downward slope of the peak.

In contrast, the most compelling heavyweights in the world are the Ukrainian master and the British prospect. Usyk is still the unquestioned ruler of the division, having beaten both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rapidly ascending force. The young British heavyweight would probably have required less than half the number of rounds that Joshua required to send Paul into a appropriately astonished stupor.

Paul's Defiant Reaction

But the fans gets what the public desires, and that certainly means more pitiful crossover contests. Paul appeared genuinely proud and brash to have had his mandible fractured by a hammer-like right. In the early hours of the next day, he shared an X-ray, with the two fractures highlighted in red.

That jokey nod to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a much superior boxer than Joshua but a similarly faded presence, demonstrated that Paul's brazen audacity is undented. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will soon 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 tracer of blood onto the canvas. It was another bleak symbol of the night as Paul mixed harsh reality with gory bullshit and stated: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A proper beating from one of the best to ever step in the ring. I love this sport and I'm going to come back and keep on winning."