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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's mouth gaped wide open, his expression turning to wide, stunned circles as he collapsed to the mat in stunned disbelief following a pulverising right hand from the former champion. It appeared as if Paul was trying to utter "Wow!" as the force of the blow sank in to his scrambled senses.

"The audience didn't spend money to see this crap," snapped the referee, summing up the sorry affair much more effectively than any observer else managed to.

Trapped in a neutral corner of the ring in the middle of the sixth round, Paul could no longer run or cling to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the gravity of boxing enveloped him. Instead, as he tried to absorb the shot that fractured his mandible in two separate places, Paul was lost in an completely stunned moment.

So this is how it is like, and appears, to be struck cleanly by a real boxer, an Olympic gold medallist and former world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is indeed the word.

It was the fourth time the social media star had been sent to the floor, but the result of a clean power shot meant Paul would not be able to get up and taunt his opponent before the referee called the contest over. As blood began to leak from his mouth, and a dull ache radiated through his jawbone, Paul at last understood how difficult, exhausting, and perilous boxing is at a decent standard of professionalism.

A Far From Commanding Victory for Joshua

Anthony Joshua, it must be noted, was far from convincing amid the chaos. After his empty victory, he made a cut-throat motion that suggested a clinical and lethal execution when, in reality, Joshua had appeared exasperated for most of the fight. Instead of glowering with menace or exhibiting an iron certainty, Joshua had seemed tentative and awkward for almost five stanzas.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a fundamental requirement in top-level boxing, shaped the outcome. Lacking the stamina to flee any more, and resorting to falling to the canvas as often as he could for a breather, Paul was left defenseless by exhaustion. Joshua applied the vicious finish, but, until then, he had looked like a mournful imitation of the boxer he had been in 2017.

Joshua's Aftermath Assessment

"It wasn't the best display," Joshua conceded. "The end goal was to catch Jake Paul, pin him down and do damage. That has been the plan, and that's what was on my mind. It took a little more time than expected, but the right hand eventually reached its destination."

Joshua praised Paul's courage but he offered an explanation for his own labored performance. "He came up against a real fighter tonight that's had a fifteen-month layoff," Joshua said, mentioning his previous loss. "We dusted off the cobwebs, and I am eager to roll into 2026."

The Future: Faded Forces and Rising Stars

In the post-fight interview that followed, a cheerful Joshua attempted a woeful imitation of Tyson Fury as he called for a fight against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will likely get his wish, but that matchup comes far too late in their professional journeys. Both fighters are on the far side of the hill.

In contrast, the most compelling big men in the world remain Oleksandr Usyk and the British prospect. Usyk is still the undoubted ruler of the weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury twice. At the same time, Itauma is a rapidly ascending talent. The youthful British heavyweight likely have required fewer than half the number of three-minute periods that Joshua required to send Paul into a suitably astonished stupor.

The Defeated Fighter's Unbowed Reaction

But the public gets what the public desires, and that undoubtedly means additional low-quality celebrity fights. Paul seemed truly proud and brash to have had his jaw broken by a hammer-like right. In the wee hours of the next day, he posted an radiograph, with the pair of breaks highlighted in crimson.

That jokey nod to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a much superior fighter than Joshua but a equally faded presence, demonstrated that Paul's brazen audacity is unbroken. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will soon find someone else with whom he can earn north of $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before leaving for the medical facility, Paul expelled a streak of blood onto the ring floor. It was one more bleak summary of the evening as Paul mixed harsh reality with blood-flecked bravado and said: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A nice little ass-whipping from one of the best to ever do it. I love this sport and I'm going to return and continue winning."