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Jake Paul's mouth gaped wide open, his eyes becoming huge glazed saucers as he collapsed to the mat in shock and awe after a pulverising right hand from the former champion. It looked as if Paul was attempting to say "Whoa!" as the force of the blow registered to his rattled senses.

"The fans didn't pay to see this garbage," snapped the referee, summing up the dismal spectacle far more effectively than anyone else managed to.

Pinned in a corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could not run or hold on to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the gravity of boxing became clear. Instead, as he tried to absorb the shot that fractured his mandible in two separate places, 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 gold medallist and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is certainly the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the social media star had been sent to the floor, but the result of a proper power shot meant Paul could not get up and waggle his tongue defiantly before the official waved the charade to a halt. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a numbing throb radiated through his jawbone, Paul at last grasped how difficult, exhausting, and perilous boxing is at a decent standard of professionalism.

A Far From Commanding Victory for Joshua

Joshua, it should be stressed, was far from convincing during the chaos. After his hollow victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that hinted at a clinical and lethal execution when, in reality, Joshua had appeared exasperated for most of the fight. Rather than glowering with menace or exhibiting an iron certainty, Joshua had appeared tentative and awkward for nearly five rounds.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a basic essential in top-level boxing, shaped the outcome. Lacking the stamina to flee any longer, and resorting to falling to the deck as frequently as he could for a rest, Paul was rendered defenseless by fatigue. Joshua applied the vicious finish, but, until then, he had seemed a mournful imitation of the fighter he had been in 2017.

The Winner's Post-Fight Assessment

"It wasn't the finest display," Joshua conceded. "The objective was to get Jake Paul, corner him 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 eventually found its destination."

Joshua praised Paul's bravery but he offered an explanation for his own stilted showing. "He faced a genuine competitor tonight that's had a fifteen-month hiatus," Joshua said, mentioning 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 cheerful Joshua attempted a woeful imitation of his domestic rival as he called for a fight against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will probably get his wish, but that bout comes much too late in their professional journeys. Both men are on the downward slope of the peak.

In contrast, the most interesting heavyweights in the world remain Oleksandr Usyk and Moses Itauma. Usyk is still the undoubted king of the weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury twice. At the same time, Itauma is a rising force. The young British heavyweight likely have needed less than half the number of three-minute periods that Joshua needed to knock Paul into a appropriately astonished state.

The Defeated Fighter's Unbowed Response

But the fans receives what the public desires, and that undoubtedly means additional low-quality celebrity contests. Paul appeared truly proud and cocky to have had his mandible fractured by a sledgehammer right. In the wee hours of Saturday morning, he shared an X-ray, with the two fractures highlighted in red.

That jokey reference to the Mexican superstar, a far greater boxer than Joshua but a equally faded force, demonstrated that Paul's comic chutzpah is undented. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will soon locate someone else with whom he can earn more than $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before departing to the hospital, Paul expelled a streak of blood onto the ring floor. It was one more grim symbol of the evening as Paul mixed blunt truth with gory bravado and stated: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A nice little beating from one of the best to ever step in the ring. I adore this sport and I'm going to return and continue winning."