Jake Paul suffered a devastating loss on Dec. 19 when he was knocked out by Anthony Joshua after being dropped three other times in their heavyweight bout but the aftermath has been just as rough.
On Dec. 31, Paul was removed from the WBA cruiserweight rankings, falling out of the top 15 where he had been slotted at No. 14.
The 28-year-old suffered a broken jaw from Joshua’s knockout punch and underwent surgery on Dec. 20. According to people close to him, his recovery is going well, and he remains determined to return to boxing once doctors clear him.
“I won two rounds,” Paul said at the time. “He won two. And then I got dropped. I was doing good, I just think my cardio and just the mental pressure of the big guy and sparring the big people is different than the 10 ounce gloves. So I was feeling his power a lot more. But it was a great experience, I learned a lot.”
Paul broke into the WBA rankings earlier this year after a unanimous decision win over Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., the first time he had ever been ranked by a major sanctioning body. He holds a 12 2 record with seven knockouts.
Joshua, the former heavyweight champion, was recently involved in a car accident but escaped without serious injury and is said to be doing fine.