Jake Paul has been warned that he may never fight again after his brutal defeat to Anthony Joshua.
Paul was knocked down four times in a sixth round knockout loss to Joshua in Miami on Friday.
The 28-year-old lost for just the second time in his 14-fight professional career and for the first time since a split decision defeat to Tommy Fury in February 2023.
The final right hand which ‘AJ’ landed, which finished off the American, broke his jaw in two places and Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn has poured doubts over whether he will ever fight again.
“He may never be able to fight again,” Hearn said on The Ariel Helwani Show.
“People just think, ‘Oh, you just get your jaw wired, bolted together by a couple of screws, and on you go.’
“There have been many fighters who have had their jaws broken that never boxed again.
“We’re not actors here.
“It was 100% per cent real, there was never any strategy, any deal, any script.
“AJ wanted to land clean as soon as possible.
“Unfortunately the only time he landed really clean was in the sixth round.”
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Joshua ended a near 15-month lay-off and got back to winning ways after suffering a fifth round knockout loss to Daniel Dubois in his last outing last December.
The 36-year-old remains on course for a long-awaited showdown with Tyson Fury next summer, but is expected to first fight in February in Riyadh, with kickboxer Rico Verhoeven a rumoured opponent.
The two-time heavyweight champion admits he had reservations over whether he wanted to continue fighting, following his devastating defeat to Dubois.
“I had a tough defeat in 2024 and I just want to pick up and move forward again,” he said in the post-fight press conference.
“I’m glad that I got back in the ring and I figured out that this is where I want to be.
“It was a real test for me to figure out if I still want to continue or not.
“And this was a good eye-opener to say this is where I want to be.
“I want to get back into the ring and go again.”
