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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's mouth gaped wide open, his eyes becoming huge glazed saucers as he sank to the canvas in stunned disbelief following a devastating right hand from Anthony Joshua. It looked as if Paul was trying to utter "Whoa!" as the force of the impact registered to his rattled senses.

"The audience didn't spend money to see this garbage," snapped the referee, summing up the sorry affair much more succinctly than anyone else managed to.

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

So that is what it feels, and appears, to be hit hard by a real boxer, an Olympic champion and former world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is certainly the word.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been knocked down, but the consequences of a clean power shot meant Paul would not be able to rise and waggle his tongue defiantly before the referee waved the charade to a halt. As blood began to trickle from his mouth, and a dull ache radiated through his jawbone, Paul finally grasped how difficult, exhausting, and dangerous boxing is at a respectable standard of professionalism.

A Far From Commanding Win for the Victor

Joshua, it should be stressed, was far from convincing during the bedlam. After his empty victory, he made a throat-slitting gesture that hinted at a precise and lethal finish when, in truth, Joshua had appeared exasperated for the majority of the fight. Instead of exuding intimidation or exhibiting an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had seemed hesitant and awkward for almost five stanzas.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a fundamental requirement in top-level boxing, shaped the outcome. Without the gas to escape any more, and reduced to slipping to the deck as often as he could for a rest, Paul was left defenseless by exhaustion. Joshua delivered the brutal finish, but, up to that point, he had seemed a sad shadow of the fighter he was in 2017.

Joshua's Post-Fight Comments

"It wasn't the finest display," Joshua admitted. "The objective was to catch Jake Paul, pin him down and do damage. That has been the request, and that's what was on my thoughts. It took a little more time than expected, but the right hand finally reached its destination."

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

The Future: Faded Forces and Rising Stars

In the press conference that followed, a jovial Joshua attempted a woeful impression of his domestic rival as he demanded a scrap against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will likely get his wish, but that bout comes far too late in their careers. Both men are on the far side of the peak.

In contrast, the most compelling heavyweights in the world are Oleksandr Usyk and the British prospect. Usyk remains the unquestioned king of the weight class, having beaten both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. At the same time, Itauma is a rapidly ascending talent. The young British heavyweight would probably have needed less than half the amount of three-minute periods that Joshua needed to knock Paul into a appropriately astonished stupor.

The Defeated Fighter's Unbowed Response

But the fans receives what the public wants, and that undoubtedly means additional low-quality celebrity fights. Paul appeared genuinely proud and brash to have had his jaw broken by a hammer-like right. In the wee hours of Saturday morning, he shared an X-ray, with the pair of breaks marked in crimson.

That jokey nod to the Mexican superstar, a much superior fighter than Joshua but a similarly faded force, demonstrated that Paul's brazen audacity is undented. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will soon find someone else with whom he can make more than $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before departing to the medical facility, Paul expelled a streak of blood onto the ring floor. It was another bleak symbol of the night as Paul mixed blunt truth with blood-flecked bravado and stated: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A proper ass-whipping from one of the greatest to ever step in the ring. I adore this shit and I'm going to return and continue winning."