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The Jake Paul show isn’t over yet, but where is it going?

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At the time of the announcement of the Jake Paul-Anthony Joshua heavyweight fight, Paul’s critics were calling for Joshua, a former two-time unified heavyweight champion, to end the social media personality-turned-boxer’s boxing career. Well, to paraphrase Mark Twain’s eminent, oft-misquoted line: “The reports of Jake Paul’s death have been greatly exaggerated.”

Paul was outclassed, fell four times and knocked out in the sixth round by Joshua during Friday’s fight in Miami. It wasn’t pretty as Paul kept circling and clinching, but Joshua finally caught up with the tiring Paul with a stunning straight right hand that ended the fight and, according to Paul, broke his jaw.

Immediately afterwards, Paul’s skeptics celebrated that what they called a farce was over. However, after the defeat, Paul made it clear that his boxing career would continue.

“I’m going to come back and fight people my weight and at some point win the world cruiserweight championship,” Paul said. “I’m going to take a little break. I’ve been training challenging for six years, so I’m going to take some time off.”

Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Sport, believes Paul’s boxing career should continue if that is what he wants.

“Hats off to Jake,” Hearn told ESPN after the fight. “It’s really challenging to get back up after a broken jaw, but that last shot AJ hit him with would have knocked out a lot of heavyweights. He went down challenging, but he was conscious on the floor. It was a one-sided fight – it was always going to be a one-sided fight – but you can’t give him anything but appreciation and respect.”

Joshua, the 2012 Olympic gold medalist from Great Britain, also commented on Paul’s future.

“America, I think you have someone who could potentially come back, dust himself off and come back sometime in 2026. Maybe against Gervonta Davis or Ryan Garcia, who knows?”

So there it is. The Jake Paul Boxing Show isn’t over yet. But the question is: where does he go from here?

The next chapter of Paul’s career will be the hardest to understand for Paul, who will turn 29 in January. Up to this point, he had done quite well in his career, combining business with entertainment. He chose the right opponents, those with enough skill to compete. However, if he wants to be taken seriously after 14 professional fights, he can’t go back and fight another MMA fighter after stepping into the ring with the former two-time heavyweight champion. He also cannot risk defeat against another opponent who has much more experience than him.

Paul has regularly hinted that he wants to fight for the cruiserweight world title, but the list of champions he would have to choose to achieve that goal poses some problems. Neither IBF champion Jai Opetaia, WBO and WBA champion Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez, nor WBC’s Noel Mikaelian are household names who will do gigantic business with him, and all of them are champions for a reason. On the other hand, it will be increasingly challenging for Paul to attract fans to another fight against someone who is either much older, not a full-time boxer, or is undersized.

When Paul decides to return, you can be sure he will receive just as much, if not more, attention. His next move will create ripples, positive or negative. What he did by stepping into the ring with a brutal performer like Joshua is proof that he has the heart, fortitude and determination to compete. However, there are levels of competition and he was vastly outmatched and outclassed. There will be questions about his game plan of cruising around the ring reluctant to throw punches. For a showman like Paul, this strategy was not fun at all, a 180 degree difference from his previous fights.

He took several edged shots from the former heavyweight champion and not only lasted over five rounds, but continued to walk out of the ring until, according to Paul’s social media post, his jaw was broken in two places. He could get over it after the first knockdown, but he didn’t want to stay on the canvas. In his desperate attempts to survive, he was barely able to stay upright and dived for clinches that turned into takedowns. But that’s what happens when you go beyond your depth. You will drown.

His critics will continue to voice their complaints, but they will likely remain reluctant to see the next phase of Paul’s career. His fans will drool over his every move and continue to cheer the unlikely rise of an influential fighter who has chosen to pursue a side hustle in boxing and an extremely lucrative gig. Everyone in between may be curious as to when his next fight will be announced, depending on the opponent.

Paul is gigantic business and there will always be room for someone who is as drawn to sports as he is.

Ultimately, it will be up to Paul to decide whether he is willing to sacrifice business to advance his goal of a world title shot, or whether he will accept an invitation to another so-called “circus fight” against a smaller fighter like Ryan Garcia or Gervonta “Tank” Davis. Either way, Paul has a choice, and the journey he’s on is now entering its next phase.

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Davies vs Collins & Heaney vs Warburton II Results: Full Fight Recap

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"Davies vs Collins & Heaney vs Warburton II Results: Full Fight Recap"

World Boxing News provides results and updates as Liam Davies faces Nathaniel Collins in the main event at bp pulse LIVE in Birmingham.

Davies and Collins collide over 12 rounds for the EBU European featherweight title at the top of the Queensberry Promotions card.

Luke McCormack faces Kay Prospere for the vacant British super lightweight title, while Bradley Goldsmith takes on Amir Abubaker for the IBF International middleweight title.

WBN provides results and updates from every bout as they happen.


Results

All times are local BST.

23:11

Gerome Warburton defeated Nathan Heaney for the second time running as the middleweight put an exclamation mark on his first victory.

Heaney walks away from the sport having been an entertainer through a long carer, without reaching the heights of a world title.

22:04

Liam Davies improved to 19-1 after Nathaniel Collins retired at the end of the seventh round due to a cut over his right eye. Collins had also been dropped in the opening round as Davies successfully defended the European featherweight title.

21:22

Bradley Goldsmith improved to 17-1 with a seventh-round stoppage of Amir Abubaker to retain his IBF International middleweight title. Abubaker went down in the fourth and three times in the seventh before the finish at 2:42.

20:10

Lewis Richardson improved to 3-0 with a shutout six-round points victory over Ivan Trofimovich, earning a 60-54 decision.

19:56

Luke McCormack moved to 6-0 and claimed the vacant British super lightweight title with a tenth-round knockout of Kay Prospere, who was counted out after a right uppercut at 1:28.

18:55

Michael Hussain moved to 5-0 with a four-round points victory over Nabil Ahmed, earning a 39-38 decision.

18:11

Nelson Birchall moved to 12-0 with a third-round stoppage of Lewis Morris, who went down before the finish came at 1:12. Lasha Guruli also remained unbeaten at 5-0 after edging Hughie Wilson 77-75 over eight rounds.

17:22

Early action saw John Tom Varey and Reese Lynch claim four-round victories to move to 3-0 and 5-0 respectively.


TV Coverage

DAZN provides full worldwide coverage.

Follow WBN’s live boxing coverage throughout the event.


About the Author

Phil Jay is the Editor-in-Chief of World Boxing News (WBN), a BWAA-acknowledged boxing news website founded in 2010. A veteran boxing reporter with 16 years of experience, he has interviewed world champions, broken international exclusives, and reported ringside from major events. His work is published worldwide through WBN and distributed on platforms including Apple News.

Read Phil Jay’s full bio and latest stories.

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Janibek Alimkhanuly Shifts Perspective on Hamzah Sheeraz: A New Dynamic in Boxing

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"Janibek Alimkhanuly Shifts Perspective on Hamzah Sheeraz: A New Dynamic in Boxing"

Janibek Alimkhanuly spent months trying to get Hamzah Sheeraz into the ring. Now that Sheeraz has vacated his WBO super middleweight title, Janibek is asking fans to stop saying the former champion ran from him. That is generous. It also leaves Janibek with less to say about a fight he wanted badly.

Janibek’s tone has changed since the purse bid. He was eager to fight, said money was not his priority, and publicly pushed Sheeraz to accept. Queensberry then bid $1,001,809 to stage the ordered defense, beating Top Rank’s $820,000 offer. Sheeraz’s 75 percent share would have been roughly $751,000. Days later, he gave up the belt.

That sequence deserves a closer look. Queensberry put a serious number on the fight, so the bid itself cannot be dismissed as proof that nobody valued it. But winning the right to promote a title defense means little to fans when the champion vacates before it happens.

Sheeraz has objected to Janibek receiving a mandatory shot after his failed drug test. He is entitled to explain that position. Fans are equally entitled to ask why the issue reached a purse bid before he surrendered the title. Janibek’s post supplies no answer.

Perhaps Janibek sees no benefit in branding Sheeraz a coward. Doing so would also make the opponent he chased sound less valuable. Calling Sheeraz a great fighter preserves the idea that this was an important contest, even after the belt and the fight slipped away.

The respect between them may be sincere. Janibek still gets no Sheeraz fight, and Sheeraz no longer has to defend his title against Janibek. A friendly photo does not change either result.

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Boxing 24/7 Wire

Boxing247.com is an independent boxing news publication covering the sport since 2001. It provides original reporting, fight analysis, schedules, results, and informed coverage of major fighters and events worldwide, backed by more than 25 years of professional boxing journalism.

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Virginia Confirms Decision to Erase Prichard Colón Loss from Records

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Virginia Confirms Decision to Erase Prichard Colón Loss from Records

Virginia has given World Boxing News its final answer on whether Prichard Colón’s last professional defeat can still be challenged, bringing an end to WBN’s long fight to have the result annulled and removed from his record.

WBN has pursued the possibility of changing the controversial disqualification defeat to Terrel Williams, with those efforts continuing following Colón’s death at age 33.

Virginia’s Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation previously explained that a decision can only be overturned if there is proven collusion, a scorecard error, or a regulatory violation that affected the result.

WBN pressed Eric Beidel, Communications & Digital Media Manager for the Department of Professional & Occupational Regulation, on whether any avenue remained to challenge the decision.

“And on that final question … as mentioned before, a decision can only be overturned if there is proven collusion, a scorecard error, or a regulatory violation that affected the results,” Beidel graciously responded after providing WBN with transparent answers throughout the investigation.

“In addition, a complaint about a regulatory violation must be filed within three years of the alleged violation.”

The Colón-Williams fight took place on October 17, 2015, meaning that deadline expired years ago.

Virginia Closes Appeal Route

Virginia’s response also addressed whether the result could instead be challenged through an appeal.

“The Administrative Process Act (APA) does create appeal rights to case decisions, but because DPOR never received a complaint in this instance, there was no case or decision that could be appealed under the APA.”

The deadline for filing a complaint about a regulatory violation has expired, while the absence of an original complaint means there is no case decision available to appeal under the APA.

For WBN, Virginia’s response ends a long fight to have the defeat annulled and removed from Colón’s professional record.

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WBN’s Fight for Prichard Colón

It is no secret that WBN and Prichard were close before the most tragic night of his career ended all contact and left us on the outside for the years leading up to his death.

That never stopped WBN from reporting on Prichard, campaigning for change and hoping lessons from what happened to him could help prevent another fighter and family from enduring the same tragedy.

Virginia’s final response may end WBN’s attempts to have the result changed, but it does not end our commitment to Prichard.

Prichard Colón will not be forgotten.

WBN will continue to keep his name alive whenever and wherever possible with the WBN Boxer Pageand push to ensure his fight for life and everything that happened in its aftermath are never allowed to simply disappear from boxing’s memory.

This investigation ends here, but Prichard’s story does not.


About the Author

Phil Jay is the Editor-in-Chief of World Boxing News (WBN), a BWAA-acknowledged boxing news website founded in 2010. A veteran boxing reporter with 16 years of experience, he has interviewed world champions, broken international exclusives, and reported ringside from major events. His work is published worldwide through WBN and distributed on platforms including Apple News.

Read Phil Jay’s full bio and latest stories.

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