Jake Paul has proven his point, but is it worth continuing after breaking his jaw?
Paul broke his jaw in two places when he suffered a Round 6 TKO loss to former unified boxing heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua this past December in Miami. He underwent surgery which resulted in two titanium plates on each side and several teeth removed.
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“The Problem Child” is still on his road to recovery.
“I’m getting some new scans here in a couple of days of the jaw to get an update on the healing process,” Paul said on “The Ariel Helwani Show.” “We’ll see what my doctors say. I think I’ll be able to get a 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. I’m sort of staying in shape. I’m always in the gym, pretty much, regardless, just staying in shape and enjoying some mitt work.”
Paul, who is 12-2 as a pro boxer with wins over a slew of ex-UFC fighters, admits his fighting future is in doubt.
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“Most definitely,” Paul said. “I think it just depends on how the bone heals, and then also there’s like a tooth missing here. 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.”
Despite the struggles in recovering, Paul doesn’t personally want to call it quits.
“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 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. It’s just a part of any sport, and I definitely don’t feel like I’m done and want to keep on fighting.”
With Paul having already dared to be great by taking on various challenges from former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva, to Tommy Fury, and now Joshua, those close to him have advised him to no longer fight.
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“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 fianceé) 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 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 like, ‘You don’t actually need to do this.’ But she’s supportive of whatever decision I make.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Jake Paul: ‘Most definitely’ a chance that I never fight again
