Jake
Paul is still recovering from his fight against Anthony Joshua. |
Esther Lin/Most Valuable Promotions
Fighting Anthony
Joshua could have long-term ramifications for Jake
Paul.
The YouTube personality turned boxer squared off against Joshua on
Dec. 19, when he suffered a broken jaw during a sixth-round
knockout loss. Paul agreed to face the British heavyweight, a much
larger opponent, when a fight against Gervonta Davis fell
through.
While Paul has been front and center as his company enters the MMA
business with this
Most Valuable Promotions “Rousey vs. Carano” card, news about
his own fighting career has been put on hold for the time being. In
an interview on “The Ariel Helwani Show,” Paul revealed that his
jaw is still healing.
“I’m getting some new scans here in a couple of days of the jaw to
get an update on the healing process. We’ll see what my doctors
say,” Paul said. “I think I’ll be able to get a more accurate
timeframe or, can I even fight again? That is definitely in the
realm and possibilities of things.
“It does like feel a lot better as weeks go by and time goes by,
but I definitely need to get cleared first to be able to spar. But
I’m sort of staying in shape. I’m always in the gym pretty much
regardless. So just staying in shape and, and enjoying, some mitt
work.”
When pressed, Paul admitted that he is at least considering that
his time as a professional boxer has run its course — though much
depends on his recovery.
“Most definitely. I think it just depends on like how the bone
heals,” he said. “And then also there’s like a tooth missing. I’m
pretty sure I’m going to have to get an implanted tooth of some
sort. I don’t know how much time that’s going to add to things. But
we just have to see and figure out what the smartest thing is for
me.”
There are a few people in Paul’s life who have advised him against
moving forward with his fighting career, most notably his
doctor.
“Definitely my doctor, Arman. He’s saying he doesn’t want me to,”
Paul said. And then there’s the occasional business person who’s
just like, ‘You know, you don’t need to do this.’
His fiance, however, is taking more moderate perspective.
“She is kind of in both boats because she understands being an
athlete and having that feeling inside of you of wanting to prove
yourself more and to compete in the love of that,” Paul said.
“But she also knows that I don’t have to fight and all of these
things. And there’s so many amazing businesses that I’m working on
and are crushing it that she has also mentioned the other side of
like, ‘Yeah, you don’t actually need to do this,’ but she’s
supportive of whatever decision I make.”
A Fighting Spirit
While Paul is taking a realistic approach to his fighting career,
retirement wouldn’t be his first choice.
“Yeah, those thoughts have definitely come up, but I’m not done,”
he said. “I can just feel it in my spirit and my soul and my heart
that I have more fights left and unfinished business in my mind.
And injuries are a part of any sport. I think potentially this
could be a good outcome. You could tear an ACL and be out and keep
on tearing it and tearing it again.
“So it’s just a part of any sport. And I definitely don’t feel like
I’m done and want to keep on fighting.”
Paul owns a 12-2 mark since making his professional boxing debut in
2020. He initially made his name besting former MMA stars like
Ben
Askren, Tyron
Woodley, Anderson
Silva, Nate Diaz and
Mike
Perry. Prior to facing Joshua, “The Problem Child” earned
victories over Mike Tyson and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Though the
Tyson fight drew scrutiny due to his opponent’s age, it also drew
massive ratings on Netflix.
Wow. Jake Paul
reveals there’s a real possibility he may never fight again due to
complications stemming from the broken jaw he suffered against
Anthony
Joshua:“I’m getting some new scans in a couple of days on the jaw to get
an update on the healing process.We’ll see what my… pic.twitter.com/x1TUuVXN34
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani)
May 11, 2026