Jake Paul has sparked concern ahead of his fight against Anthony Joshua next week by revealing that he’s ‘cracked’ his nose in training.
The unlikely duo go head-to-head on December 19 at the Kaseya Center in Miami with a reported £140million prize pot set to be split evenly.
Paul had originally been due to face Gervonta Davis before the 31-year-old was forced to pull out amid allegations of domestic abuse, with Joshua announced as his replacement last month.
It’s a fight which has split opinion, with some excited to see how a YouTuber will fare against a two-time heavyweight champion and others questioning whether such a contest is even safe. After all, Joshua is some four inches taller, considerably heavier and vastly more experienced than his American opponent.
And now, fears for the safety of Paul have grown once again after the 26-year-old revealed he’s suffering with a ‘crooked’ nose.
Speaking on the Pat McAfee show, he said: ‘I’m not going to lie, sparring the heavyweights has moved my nose a couple of millimetres in this camp.
Jake Paul and Anthony Joshua go head-to-head in Miami on December 19
AJ, a two-time heavyweight world champion, is some four inches taller than his opponent
‘A guy by the name of Frank Sanchez definitely cracked it a little bit. So it definitely has a slight little something in there. But yeah man, it’s bad.’
It comes just days after Paul sparked fears the fight could be called off with a cryptic tweet.
Taking to his social media on Monday, the ‘Problem Child’, as he calls himself, wrote: ‘9AM Tuesday. Major update. Had to be done. Is what it is.’
However, contrary to widespread predictions that Paul had pulled out at the last minute, his announcement the following day was merely that his promotions company had signed boxer Caroline Dubois, sister of British heavyweight Daniel.
The 24-year-old London-born star will fight on the undercard of the Joshua Paul contest against Italian boxer Camilla Potter.
Paul posted: ‘All I want is a fair fight. Even the odds. Joshua brought in Usyk. So only right I bring in Dubois. Had to be done.’
AJ has indeed brought about a shake up in his camp ahead of the bout, choosing to train with the team of his former rival Oleksandr Usyk.
The 36-year-old revealed the change in a press conference last month, announcing: ‘I have been invited to train with Team Usyk. He is the best in the world and I have been in Spain with them. I have been training with them for a few weeks.’
Joshua hasn’t stepped into the ring since his loss to Daniel Dubois in September 2024
AJ’s promoter Eddie Hearn has sensationally claimed he and the Brit will retire if they lose in Miami
Team Joshua have been supremely confident in the build up to the fight, with his promoter Eddie Hearn even claiming that he and AJ will retire if they don’t ‘obliterate’ Paul.
Hearn also warned Paul that he could ‘get seriously hurt’ against the taller and heavier Joshua, who boasts a reach some six inches longer than the American.
Joshua has weighed more than 250lbs in each of his last five fights, but it was believed to be approximately 265lbs when he took the scrap – requiring him to drop 20lbs to reach the 245lbs weight limit for the fight later this month.
He’s not fought in more than a year since his knockout loss to Daniel Dubois in September 2024, but Hearn is confident his boxer will make the weight class.
‘I spoke to [Joshua] and he was sitting at 265 pounds or something like that. I think I told Nakisa that he was 290 pounds or something like that,’ he told BBC 5 Live.
‘I said I’m not interested in balloon gloves and two-minute rounds but he said it was a real fight. I asked if it was 10 rounds or eight rounds, they said fine to eight.
‘They said: “The only thing is that Jake will weigh about 220 pounds and we want AJ to come down in weight.”
‘He’s a heavyweight and hasn’t cut weight before. They said: “Look we’re not being funny and it’s not that we need an advantage but we need you to have some disadvantage.”‘