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Jake Paul's mouth gaped wide open, his expression turning to huge glazed saucers as he sank to the canvas in shock and awe after a pulverising right hand from Anthony Joshua. It looked as if Paul was trying to say "Whoa!" as the force of the blow sank in to his rattled senses.

"The fans didn't spend money to see this rubbish," snapped the referee, summing up the sorry spectacle far more succinctly than any observer else managed to.

Trapped 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 serious reality of boxing enveloped him. Instead, as he tried to absorb the shot that fractured his mandible in two distinct locations, Paul was caught in an utterly stunned moment.

So this is how it feels, and looks, to be struck cleanly by a genuine boxer, an Olympic champion and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is indeed the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the social media star had been sent to the floor, but the consequences of a clean power shot ensured Paul could not get up and waggle his tongue defiantly before the official waved 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 dangerous boxing is at a respectable standard of professionalism.

An Unimpressive Impressive Win for Joshua

Anthony Joshua, it should be stressed, was not impressive during the chaos. After his empty victory, he made a cut-throat motion that suggested a clinical and deadly execution when, in truth, Joshua had appeared exasperated for the majority of the contest. Rather than exuding intimidation or displaying an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had seemed tentative and crude for almost five rounds.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a fundamental requirement in elite boxing, shaped the result. Lacking the stamina to escape any longer, and reduced to falling to the canvas as frequently as he could for a rest, Paul was rendered defenseless by exhaustion. Joshua delivered the brutal finish, but, up to that point, he had seemed a sad shadow of the fighter he had been in 2017.

The Winner's Aftermath Assessment

"That was not the finest display," Joshua admitted. "The end goal was to catch Jake Paul, corner him 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 destination."

Joshua commended Paul's courage but he added an excuse for his own labored performance. "He came up against a real fighter tonight that's had a 15-month layoff," Joshua said, mentioning his previous loss. "We shook off the rust, and I am eager to roll into 2026."

The Future: Past Their Prime and New Talent

In the press conference afterwards, a jovial Joshua attempted a woeful impression 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 careers. Both fighters are on the downward slope of the peak.

In stark contrast, the most interesting big men in the world are the Ukrainian master and the British prospect. Usyk remains the unquestioned ruler of the weight class, after defeating both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. At the same time, Itauma is a rapidly ascending talent. The youthful British heavyweight would probably have required less than half the amount of rounds that Joshua required to knock Paul into a suitably wowed state.

Paul's Defiant Reaction

But the fans receives what the public wants, and that undoubtedly means more low-quality celebrity contests. Paul seemed genuinely satisfied and cocky 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 the Mexican superstar, a far greater boxer than Joshua but a equally faded presence, showed that Paul's comic chutzpah is unbroken. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly locate someone else with whom he can earn north of $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before leaving for the medical facility, Paul spat a streak of blood onto the ring floor. It was one more bleak symbol of the night as Paul mangled blunt truth with gory bravado and stated: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's definitely broke. A proper ass-whipping from one of the best to ever do it. I love this shit and I'm going to come back and keep on winning."