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The YouTuber-turned-fighter's jaw dropped agape, his eyes becoming huge glazed saucers as he sank to the canvas in shock and awe following a pulverising right hand from the former champion. It looked as if Paul was trying to utter "Wow!" as the severity of the impact registered to his rattled senses.

"The audience didn't pay to see this garbage," said the referee, summing up the sorry spectacle far more effectively than any observer else could.

Pinned in a 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 gravity of boxing enveloped him. Instead, as he attempted to withstand the punch that fractured his mandible in two separate places, Paul was caught in an completely dazed moment.

So this is how it is like, and appears, to be struck cleanly by a real boxer, an Olympic champion and ex- world heavyweight champion. "Goodness" is indeed the word.

It was the fourth time the former YouTuber had been knocked down, but the result of a proper punch ensured Paul could not rise and taunt his opponent before the referee called the contest over. As blood began to trickle from his mouth, and a dull ache spread through his jaw, Paul at last grasped how hard, grueling, and dangerous boxing is at a respectable standard of professionalism.

A Far From Impressive Win for the Victor

Joshua, it must be noted, was not impressive during the bedlam. After his hollow victory, he performed a cut-throat motion that suggested a clinical and deadly execution when, in reality, Joshua had appeared exasperated for most of the contest. Instead of glowering with menace or displaying an unshakeable confidence, Joshua had seemed hesitant and crude for almost five stanzas.

Paul's lack of conditioning, which is a basic essential in elite boxing, dictated the outcome. Lacking the stamina to escape any longer, and resorting to falling to the deck as often as he could for a rest, Paul was rendered helpless by fatigue. Joshua delivered the brutal ending, but, up to that point, he had looked like a sad imitation of the boxer he had been in 2017.

The Winner's Aftermath Assessment

"That was not the best performance," Joshua conceded. "The end goal was to catch Jake Paul, corner him and hurt him. That has been the request, and that's what was on my thoughts. It took a bit longer than expected, but the right hand finally found its target."

Joshua commended Paul's courage but he added an explanation for his own labored performance. "He came up against a real fighter tonight that's had a 15-month hiatus," 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 afterwards, a jovial Joshua attempted a poor impression of his domestic rival as he demanded a scrap against the currently retired boxer. Joshua will probably have his way, but that matchup comes far too late in their professional journeys. Both fighters are on the downward slope of the hill.

In contrast, the most compelling big men in the world are Oleksandr Usyk and Moses Itauma. Usyk remains the undoubted king of the weight class, after defeating both Joshua and Fury twice. At the same time, Itauma is a rapidly ascending force. The young British heavyweight would probably have needed less than half the amount of three-minute periods that Joshua required to send Paul into a suitably astonished state.

The Defeated Fighter's Unbowed Response

But the public gets what the public desires, and that undoubtedly means more pitiful celebrity fights. Paul seemed truly proud and brash to have had his mandible fractured by a sledgehammer right. In the early hours of the next day, he posted an X-ray, with the two fractures highlighted in crimson.

That jokey nod to Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez, a far greater boxer than Joshua but a equally faded force, demonstrated that Paul's comic chutzpah remains undented. It may not be Canelo, but Paul will shortly find another opponent with whom he can earn north of $50 million.

While he was being interviewed, before departing to the hospital, Paul expelled a streak of blood onto the canvas. It was one more grim summary of the evening as Paul mixed harsh reality with blood-flecked bravado and said: "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 shit and I'm going to return and continue winning."