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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's mouth gaped agape, his expression turning to wide, stunned circles as he sank to the canvas in stunned disbelief following a devastating 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 pay to see this rubbish," snapped the referee, summing up the sorry affair far more succinctly than anyone else managed to.

Trapped in a corner of the ring midway through the sixth round, Paul could no longer retreat or cling to Joshua's legs in a desperate clinch as the serious reality of boxing became clear. Instead, as he tried to absorb the punch that broke his jaw in two distinct locations, Paul was caught in an completely stunned moment.

So that is what it is like, and looks, to be struck cleanly by a real boxer, an Olympic gold medallist and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is certainly the word.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been knocked down, but the result of a clean power shot ensured Paul could not rise and taunt his opponent before the referee waved the contest over. As blood began to leak from his lips, and a numbing throb spread through his jaw, Paul finally understood how difficult, exhausting, and perilous boxing is at a decent standard of competition.

An Unimpressive Impressive Win for Joshua

Joshua, it should be stressed, was not impressive amid the bedlam. After his empty 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 hesitant and crude for nearly five stanzas.

Paul's poor fitness, which is a basic essential in elite boxing, shaped the outcome. Without the gas to escape any more, and reduced to slipping to the canvas as frequently as he could for a rest, Paul was rendered defenseless by fatigue. Joshua applied the brutal ending, but, until then, he had seemed a sad imitation of the fighter he had been in 2017.

Joshua's Post-Fight Assessment

"It wasn't the best performance," Joshua admitted. "The end goal 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 little more time than anticipated, but the right hand finally found its destination."

Joshua praised Paul's courage but he offered an explanation for his own stilted performance. "He faced a genuine competitor tonight that's had a fifteen-month layoff," Joshua said, mentioning his previous defeat. "We dusted off the cobwebs, and I am eager to roll into 2026."

The Future: Past Their Prime and Rising Stars

In the press conference that followed, a cheerful Joshua attempted a woeful imitation of his domestic rival as he demanded a scrap against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will probably get his wish, but that matchup comes much too late in their careers. Both men are on the far side of the peak.

In stark contrast, the most interesting heavyweights in the world remain Oleksandr Usyk and the British prospect. Usyk is still the unquestioned ruler of the weight class, after defeating both Joshua and Fury twice. At the same time, Itauma is a rapidly ascending talent. The youthful British heavyweight likely have needed fewer than half the amount of rounds that Joshua required to knock Paul into a appropriately astonished stupor.

The Defeated Fighter's Defiant Response

But the fans gets what the public desires, and that certainly means additional low-quality crossover fights. Paul appeared genuinely satisfied and cocky to have had his jaw broken by a sledgehammer right. In the wee hours of Saturday morning, he posted an radiograph, with the pair of breaks marked in red.

That lighthearted reference to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a much superior boxer than Joshua but a similarly diminished force, showed that Paul's brazen audacity remains unbroken. It might not be Canelo, but Paul will soon find another opponent with whom he can make north of $50 million.

During his in-ring interview, before departing to the hospital, Paul expelled a tracer of blood onto the canvas. It was another grim symbol of the evening as Paul mixed blunt truth with blood-flecked bullshit and stated: "I think my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A nice little beating from one of the best to ever do it. I love this sport and I'm going to return and continue winning."