Jake Paul is currently experiencing the longest layoff of his professional boxing career after having his jaw broken by Anthony Joshua in his knockout loss to the former unified heavyweight champion last December.
Paul has undergone two surgical procedures on his jaw and is currently targeting a return to the ring in early 2027. If the timeline holds, it’ll be the first time since his pro debut in 2020 that he’s gone a full calendar year without a fight.
While one may think that the time off would be challenging for Paul, he sees it as an opportunity to recharge his battery.
“I miss boxing,” Paul told ESPN earlier this week.
He’s currently in full blown promoter mode as MVPW-02, headlined by Alycia Baumgardner vs. Bo Mi Re Shin, takes place at the Infosys Theater at Madison Square Garden on Friday.
“But the time off definitely refills that energy and helped me miss it. It’s good to miss the sport because I hadn’t missed it in a while since I started.”
Paul said that while his jaw is “recovering nicely,” he still hasn’t been cleared to spar and just started hitting the heavy bag.
“I actually just started getting back into training because hitting the heavy bag creates the vibration through the face and the jaw wasn’t able to heal doing that,” Paul said. “But now it’s at a point where I can actually hit the heavy bag. So I’m just slowly getting back into it and trying to stay in shape a little bit.”
Paul will spend the year on the mend and active as a promoter while he awaits clearance to start sparring. He plans to return as a cruiserweight with the goal of becoming a world champion. While some assumed the brutal knockout loss to Joshua may be Paul’s last bout, the YouTuber-turned-Prizefighter sees it as something that has helped him become a better fighter and achieve his goals.
“I’ve been really pushing it the past six years, almost averaging three fights a year,” Paul said. ” It’s good to have some time to step back away from the sport and feel like I want to come back into it with a new energy.
“I’m eager to get back into the ring but I don’t want to rush it.”
