A second jaw procedure after the Anthony Joshua knockout raises serious questions about how soon the Problem Child returns to the ring
Jake Paul has built an entire brand around refusing to slow down. Unfortunately, his jaw didn’t get the memo.
The 27-year-old boxer underwent a second surgical procedure on the broken jaw he sustained during his Dec. 19 knockout loss to Anthony Joshua, announcing the news Friday via Instagram. Paul acknowledged that the screws and plates inserted during his first surgery had begun to come loose a complication he attributed, with characteristic self-awareness, to his inability to rest in the two months since the fight. The update was classic Paul: candid, laced with humor, and delivered directly to his millions of followers without a publicist filtering the message.
The second surgery significantly dims any realistic hopes of a quick return to the ring, regardless of how optimistic Paul has sounded in recent weeks.
What happened on Dec. 19
Paul was stopped in the sixth round by Anthony Joshua, the former two-time unified heavyweight champion, in one of the most definitive losses of his boxing career. It wasn’t a close fight at that stage Joshua’s experience and power proved to be a level Paul hadn’t fully encountered before, and the knockout was emphatic. Paul disclosed during his postfight interview that his jaw had been broken in the exchange, giving immediate context to the severity of what had just happened.
The damage was significant. His jaw was fractured in two places, and he underwent his first surgical procedure the very next day Dec. 20 during which two titanium plates were inserted on each side of the fracture and several teeth were removed. It was a serious operation by any measure, and one that would typically demand extended recovery time from even the most cautious patient.
The complication that changed the timeline
Paul is, by his own admission, not a cautious patient. His social media presence over the past two months has been anything but that of someone in quiet recovery. He’s remained visible, active, and publicly engaged which, as it turns out, may have directly contributed to the surgical hardware failing to hold. Titanium plates and screws are designed to stabilize healing bone, but that stabilization depends on the surrounding tissue being given time to recover properly. Push through too much activity too soon, and the hardware pays the price.
Now Paul faces a reset. The second procedure means the healing clock effectively restarts, and a return to boxing which involves, among other things, absorbing punches to the head is off the table for the foreseeable future. Paul’s record stands at 12-2, and the loss to Joshua dropped him back into the conversation about whether his skills can genuinely compete at the upper levels of the sport.
Life outside the ring
Whatever the setbacks inside boxing, Paul’s personal life has been a considerably brighter story lately. His fiancée, Dutch speed skating star Jutta Leerdam, delivered a record-breaking gold medal performance in the women’s 1,000-meter event at the 2026 Winter Olympics a milestone Paul celebrated publicly and enthusiastically. It’s the kind of moment that provides perspective beyond fight records and surgical procedures, and Paul leaned into it fully.
The contrast is striking in its own way. Leerdam is at the peak of her athletic career, standing on an Olympic podium with a world record. Paul is recovering from a second jaw surgery after getting knocked out. Life, as they say, contains multitudes.
What comes next for Paul
The immediate priority is straightforward: heal properly this time. The lesson from the first surgery is already clear cutting corners on recovery with a fractured jaw produces predictable and painful consequences. Paul’s next opponent, whoever that turns out to be, will have to wait significantly longer than originally anticipated.
The broader question is what Paul’s boxing future looks like after the Joshua loss and this extended medical detour. He remains one of the sport’s most commercially powerful figures, capable of generating massive pay-per-view numbers regardless of ranking or record. But the path to legitimacy in the heavyweight division runs through fighters who are considerably more dangerous than the opponents Paul built his early record against.
For now, the Problem Child needs to do something genuinely difficult for someone with his energy and platform sit still and let the jaw heal.
