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Jake Paul's jaw dropped agape, his eyes becoming wide, stunned circles as he collapsed to the mat in stunned disbelief following a devastating right hand from Anthony Joshua. It looked as if Paul was trying to say "Whoa!" as the force of the blow registered to his rattled senses.

"The fans didn't pay to see this crap," said the referee, summing up the sorry spectacle much more succinctly than any observer else could.

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 like a forlorn little boy as the gravity of the sweet science enveloped him. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the punch that fractured his mandible in two distinct locations, Paul was lost in an utterly dazed moment.

So that is what it feels, and looks, to be struck cleanly by a genuine professional fighter, an Olympic champion and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Wow" is certainly the appropriate term.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been knocked down, but the result of a clean punch ensured Paul would not be able to get up and waggle his tongue defiantly before the official called the charade to a halt. As blood began to trickle from his mouth, and a numbing throb radiated through his jaw, Paul at last understood how difficult, grueling, and perilous boxing is at a respectable level of competition.

An Unimpressive Commanding Win for the Victor

Anthony Joshua, it must be noted, was not impressive during the chaos. After his hollow victory, he performed a throat-slitting gesture that suggested a precise and deadly execution when, in reality, Joshua had appeared exasperated for the majority of the fight. Rather than exuding intimidation or exhibiting an iron certainty, Joshua had seemed hesitant and awkward for almost five stanzas.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a basic essential in elite boxing, dictated the result. Without the gas to escape any longer, and reduced to slipping to the deck as frequently as he could for a breather, Paul was rendered defenseless by exhaustion. Joshua applied the vicious ending, but, up to that point, he had seemed a mournful shadow of the boxer he was in 2017.

Joshua's Aftermath Assessment

"It wasn't the finest display," Joshua conceded. "The objective was to get 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 anticipated, but the right hand finally found its target."

Joshua praised Paul's bravery but he added an explanation for his own stilted showing. "He came up against a genuine competitor tonight that's had a fifteen-month layoff," Joshua said, referencing his last loss. "We dusted off the cobwebs, and I am eager to head into 2026."

What Comes Next: Faded Forces and New Talent

In the post-fight interview that followed, a jovial Joshua attempted a poor imitation of Tyson Fury as he demanded a fight against the presently inactive boxer. Joshua will probably get his wish, but that matchup comes far too late in their careers. Both men are on the downward slope of the peak.

In contrast, the most interesting heavyweights in the world are Oleksandr Usyk and the British prospect. Usyk remains the undoubted ruler of the weight class, after defeating both Joshua and Fury on two occasions. Meanwhile, Itauma is a rapidly ascending talent. The youthful British heavyweight would probably have required less than half the number of rounds that Joshua needed to knock Paul into a appropriately astonished stupor.

Paul's Defiant Reaction

But the fans gets what the public wants, and that undoubtedly means additional pitiful crossover fights. Paul seemed genuinely satisfied and cocky to have had his mandible fractured by a hammer-like right. In the wee hours of the next day, he posted an X-ray, with the two fractures highlighted in red.

That jokey reference to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a much superior boxer than Joshua but a similarly faded presence, showed that Paul's comic chutzpah is undented. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly find another opponent with whom he can earn more than $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before leaving for the medical facility, Paul expelled a streak of blood onto the canvas. It was one more bleak summary of the evening as Paul mixed blunt truth with gory bullshit and stated: "I believe my jaw is broken. It's certainly broke. A proper beating from one of the best to ever step in the ring. I love this sport and I'm going to return and continue winning."