Jake Paul has said his broken nose has worsened during his sparring for a fight with Anthony Joshua, with the YouTuber-turned-boxer admitting: “It’s getting more crooked.”
Paul will fight Joshua, a former two-time world heavyweight champion, in Miami on 19 December. The bout will be a professional heavyweight contest, scheduled for eight three-minute rounds. Knockouts are allowed, with each man wearing standard 10oz gloves.
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On the day before the fight, “AJ” will be limited to 245lb, but Paul has been sparring even-bigger heavyweights in preparation for the bout – including Lawrence Okolie, Jared Anderson and Frank Sanchez.
American Paul is 12-1 as a pro boxer and holds wins over former middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr and heavyweight legend Mike Tyson, though the latter was 58 when he was outpointed by Paul in November 2024. The influencer, 28, faces an altogether different test when he fights Joshua, 36.
And in the lead-up to his clash with the Briton, Paul appeared on The Pat McAfee Show, where he was asked about his broken nose.
“It’s getting more crooked, brother,” Paul told McAfee. “I’m not gonna lie: sparring the heavyweights, my nose has moved a couple millimetres this camp.
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“A guy by the name of Frank Sanchez, he definitely cracked it a bit, so it definitely has a slight little something in there. But yeah, man, it’s bad. Look at that.”
Jake Paul at the launch press conference for his fight with Anthony Joshua (Getty Images for Netflix)
Delving further into his sparring for the fight, Paul said: “We brought in world-champion heavyweight sparring partners, guys who are 270lb, 250lb. Sparring them has been insane. I’ve still got the remnants of a black eye [from Okolie].
“My coaches are some of the best in the world, and they tell me: ‘Look, we believe that the sparring you’re doing right now is gonna be harder than the actual fight night.’ They don’t lie to me. I trust in my coaches, and I also believe that as well.
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“I don’t think [Joshua] can knock me out, because he’s not gonna be able to line up his shots properly to be able to land a hard punch.
“I think it’s gonna be a very tough fight for multiple rounds, but then when I figure out his pacing, his style, his speed, his footwork, he’s gonna get a little bit tired trying to chase me around.
“Then I’m gonna set up the shot. I’m not gonna say exactly what, but I see what it is, and I think it’ll end in the fifth or sixth round.”
Paul staring up at Joshua ahead of their fight on 19 December (Getty)
Paul last fought in June, outpointing Chavez Jr, while Joshua’s last fight was a stoppage loss to Daniel Dubois in September 2024.
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Paul’s sole defeat as a pro came against Tommy Fury, half-brother of heavyweight star Tyson Fury. Meanwhile, Joshua’s loss to Dubois – in which he was knocked down several times – followed two defeats by Oleksandr Usyk and an upset by Andy Ruiz Jr.
However, AJ is a former two-time world heavyweight champion with wins over the likes of Wladimir Klitschko, Joseph Parker, Kubrat Pulev, Dillian Whyte and Alexander Povetkin.