Jake Paul undergoes surgery for broken jaw suffered in KO loss to Anthony Joshua

Anthony Joshua’s sixth-round knockout of Jake Paul fell short of being a memorable highlight, but he likely sent Paul home with a sizeable medical bill. Joshua broke Paul’s jaw in his Netflix main event.

Many analysts believed it would be a miracle if Paul lasted more than two rounds against Joshua. On Friday, Paul eluded the two-time unified heavyweight champion long enough to see a sixth round. Along the way, Joshua knocked down Paul four times before finishing him. 

During their post-fight interviews, Paul claimed his jaw was broken. A close-up video Paul posted online shows his teeth out of alignment inside his bloody mouth. 

Paul subsequently posted a photo from a hospital bed. In the post, he revealed that he had teeth removed and two titanium jaws fitted on his jaw. Paul is unable to eat solid food for the next week.

“Just got out of surgery. Everything went smooth,” Paul wrote. “Thanks for all the love. Lots of pain and stiffness. Gotta eat liquids for 7 days.” 

An X-ray shows that Paul’s jaw was fractured in two places.

Joshua’s sixth-round stoppage arguably hurt his reputation more than it helped. Heading into the fight, Joshua told CBS Sports that anything short of a first-round knockout would be “a failure.” Ultimately, he struggled to land clean shots until Paul started slowing round in Round 4. 

Paul can hang his hat on lasting four rounds longer than former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou did against Joshua, while also avoiding getting knocked unconscious. However, Paul’s performance, which saw him largely avoid Joshua at distance, clinch, and stall the fight by taking knees, won’t do much to inspire confidence in his title ambitions. 

Joshua (29-4, 26 KOs) called for a long-awaited fight against Tyson Fury after Friday’s win. Paul (12-2, 7 KOs) suffered his second professional loss, but still has ambitions to win a cruiserweight world championship.