Jake Paul drops out of cruiserweight rankings after KO loss to Anthony Joshua

Despite Paul’s fight with Joshua taking place at heavyweight, the YouTuber-turned-boxer has seen his stock fall in his usual division

Jake Paul has dropped out of the WBA’s cruiserweight rankings in the wake of his defeat by Anthony Joshua.

On 19 December, Paul faced Joshua in a heavyweight contest in Miami, suffering multiple knockdowns en route to a knockout loss in the sixth round.

And despite the fight taking place at heavyweight, where “AJ” is a former two-time world champion, Paul has seen his stock fall in his usual division.

The WBA’s rankings update on 31 December saw the YouTuber-turned-boxer absent, as he fell from the No 14 spot – with 15 fighters listed as usual.

Paul, 28, first entered the rankings following his June victory over Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, whom he defeated via decision. Chavez Jr is a former middleweight champion and the son of the legendary Chavez Sr.

But following Paul’s loss to Joshua, which saw the American’s professional record drop to 12-2, the influencer has exited the WBA’s cruiserweight rankings.

Paul suffered a broken jaw in two places in his loss to Britain’s Joshua, 13 months after his previous heavyweight outing: a points win over Mike Tyson.

Paul’s cruiserweight career includes wins over ex-UFC stars Anderson Silva, Tyron Woodley and Mike Perry, while his first professional loss also took place in the division, as he was outpointed by Tommy Fury – half-brother of heavyweight star Tyson Fury – in 2023.

Jake Paul (left) suffered a broken jaw in his knockout loss to Anthony Joshua (Getty Images for Netflix)

Paul’s next move is unclear, although he has long targeted a fight with Mexican icon Canelo Alvarez.

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Alvarez, 35, is a former four-weight world champion, having twice reigned as undisputed king at super-middleweight. His most-recent outing, however, saw him lose all the major super-middleweight titles to Terence Crawford.

Crawford, 38, retired in December after that September victory over Canelo, who was outpointed 115-113, 115-113 and 116-112 on the judges’ scorecards.

Whatever Paul’s next move ends up being, Joshua is currently recovering from a car crash in Nigeria, in which two of his friends died.

Joshua, 36, was a passenger in an SUV in a convoy when his vehicle hit a truck, which was parked on the side of the Lagos-Ibadan expressway. Sina Ghami and Latif “Latz” Ayodele, teammates and friends of Joshua, passed away following the accident on Monday, while AJ was left with minor injuries.