Anthony Joshua may have ended Jake Paul’s career

“I’m getting some new scans in a few days, of the jaw, to get an update on the healing process,” Jake said. Ariel Helwani’s show. “We’ll see what the doctors say. I think I’ll be able to get a more accurate time frame, or can I even fight again? It’s definitely in the realm of possibility.”

Jake added that he is still waiting to learn how the leg heals before returning to sparring.

“It’s feeling a lot better as the weeks go by, but I definitely need to be cleared to spar,” Paul said. “I think it just depends on how the bone heals.”

The comments painted a very different picture to the confidence Jake carried before stepping into the ring with Joshua on Netflix last year.

Joshua dropped Jake twice in the fifth round before stopping him in the sixth. The loss immediately changed the discussion around Paul fighting legitimate higher-level heavyweights and cruiserweights.

Even a faded version of Joshua was far too physically dangerous. That reality obviously raises questions about what younger heavyweights like Moses Itauma, Richard Torrez Jr., or Daniel Dubois could possibly do against Paul in a professional ring.

The same concerns exist at cruiserweight. Fighters like Jai Opetaia operate on a completely different level, technically and physically, than the opponents Paul faced before moving up against Joshua.

Jake can probably still compete successfully against limited opposition if he returns, but the Joshua fight seems to have exposed the ceiling for trying to mix with true championship level punchers.