Jake Paul is five months removed from having his jaw broken in a fight against Anthony Joshua and he’s still not sure when or if he’ll be able to compete again.
The knockout loss to Joshua came after Paul booked the fight when his previously scheduled matchup against Gervonta “Tank” Davis was scrapped. While he made it deeper in the fight than most expected, Paul eventually got cornered and blasted with a punch from Anthony that dropped him to the canvas and ended his night.
Afterwards, Paul revealed he had suffered a broken jaw and the recovery from that injury raised concerns about whether he might ever be able to compete in boxing again.
“I’m getting some new scans here in a couple of days of the jaw to get an update on the healing process,” Paul told Yahoo! Sports. “We’ll see what my doctors say. I think I’ll be able to get more accurate timeframe or can I even fight again? That is definitely in the realm of possibilities of things.
“It does 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 am sort of staying in shape. I’m always in the gym pretty much regardless. Just staying in shape and enjoying some mitt work.”
Paul admitted there’s definitely a world where the injury prevents him from fighting again, although he’s obviously hoping for a better diagnosis once he gets additional scans done on his jaw.
“Most definitely [a chance I can’t fight again],” Paul said. “I think it just depends on how the bone heals and then also there’s a tooth missing here that 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.”
While nothing has been decided yet, Paul revealed that his doctor actually advised him against fighting again already even before he gets additional scans done on his broken jaw.
Paul isn’t committing to anything yet but there are definitely people in his life telling him to hang up his gloves for good.
“Definitely my doctor Arman, he doesn’t want me to fight again,” Paul said. “He’s saying he doesn’t want me to. There’s the occasional business person who’s just like ‘you don’t need to do this.’ [My fiancée] is kind of in both boats. She understands being an athlete and having that feeling inside of you and wanting to prove yourself more and to compete and the love of that.
“But she also knows 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 like ‘you don’t actually need to do this.’ But she’s supportive of whatever decision I make.”
In his mind, Paul is determined to return to the ring and fight again but receiving medical clearance on his jaw is first and foremost right now.
“Those thoughts have definitely come up but I’m not done,” Paul said. “I can just feel it in my spirit, in my soul and my heart that I have more fights left and unfinished business in my mind. Injuries are 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. It’s just a part of any sport and I definitely don’t feel like I’m done and want to keep on fighting.”
That said, Paul isn’t remotely ready to think about his next opponent or when he might be able to book a fight because there’s just too much uncertainty right now about his future.
“Not really [thinking about who could be next],” Paul said. “I think these scans this week that I’m getting will be a very good indicator of what’s next and when.”
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