By: Sean Crose
It’s been said a million times – you don’t play boxing. Jake Paul may have learned that lesson the hard way after getting his jaw broken by former world heavyweight titlist Anthony Joshua last year. In fairness, social media star turned professional boxer Paul had supposed to have fought lightweight Gervonta Davis. That fight fell through, however, and so Joshua, a towering, statuesque fighter if ever there was one, stepped in to fill the far smaller Davis’ shoes. Suffice to say, things ended pretty much as expected, if not worse. In a word, Joshua beat the brash American from pillar to post.
Speaking earlier this week to Ariel Helwani, Paul suggested his fighting days might be over. “I’m getting some new scans here,” he said. “We’ll see what the doctors say…Can I even fight again? That’s definitely in the possibility of things.” What one doctor has already said is alarming. “He doesn’t want me to fight again,” said Paul. The fighter known as the “Problem Child,’ however, is not so easily dissuaded. “I’m not done,” he went on. “Injuries are a part of any sport.” Indeed, they are, but it would behoove Paul to consider the fact that boxing is a sport more dangerous than most.
One has to wonder what Paul was thinking. People have long said they would fight a heavyweight champion for a lot of money – but would they, especially when that champion let it be known he was going to treat it as a serious fight, much as Joshua did before his thunderous performance against Paul? It’s clear Paul was willing to go all the way with this mad endeavor, that’s for sure. Again, though, one has to wonder just what Paul was thinking. Surely he could have made a lot of money without facing Joshua.
It was Joshua, however, who he decided to fight. Was it hubris? Unhinged confidence? Fear of looking afraid? A combination of each of those possibilities? Perhaps only Paul knows. He’d been around the business long enough to know the sport wasn’t the safest endeavor. He’d had numerous fights, after all. Maybe it was the fact that he had never been hurt, or had showed he had real talent and discipline. Whatever the reason, Paul made himself believe he could hurt Joshua, or at least Joshua couldn’t harm him too badly. As everyone now knows, he was quite wrong.
Still, Paul deserves some credit. After the silly start, he buckled down and actually improved. It wasn’t until he decided he could hang with the likes of Joshua that he decided to play boxing rather than compete in it. Now it looks like that was quite a poor decision. A broken jaw is no small thing. A broken jaw can heal, though. The psychological impact that comes with the kind of beating Paul took from Joshua, though, can be long term.
Or not.
Paul is nothing of not a confident individual. It’s hard to imagine him being broken emotionally from a beating. Still such things happen. Yet Paul’s indicated he’s eager to get back into the ring whether a doctor wants him to or not. That’s not the most intelligent thing in the world, but it is what it is. Paul is a fighter like it or not and fighters are stubborn people. They have to be,really.
It also is very important not only for boxers but for all people to play life smart. What Paul has to do at this point is ask himself if he wants to keep taking risks like he made against Joshua or even if he wants to return to the ring at all. If Paul didn’t know it then he knows it now… you don’t play Boxing.
