Jake Paul says the jaw that Anthony Joshua broke is no longer a weak spot. It’s metal now.
During a fight week promotional stop in Paris for his Christmas Eve boxing match against Cedric Doumbe, Paul was asked how the repaired jaw is holding up. According to MMA Junkie, his answer started with a single word, “Titanium.” From there he said the jaw is stronger than ever and that he and his team are ready for Doumbe.
That’s a bold thing to say in Doumbe’s home country, and Paris let him know it. Boxing News 24 posted footage from the trip under a blunt headline declaring that Paris hates Jake Paul. Doumbe is a former two-time Glory welterweight champion and a genuine star in France, so nobody should be stunned that the room wasn’t on Paul’s side.
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The Joshua fallout
This is Paul’s first time back in a boxing ring since Joshua knocked him out in 2025. That loss cost him a broken jaw and a lot of the momentum he’d built as a cash-cow attraction. Most Valuable Promotions, the company Paul co-founded, booked the comeback in Dubai for Dec. 24 and announced Doumbe as the opponent earlier this month.
Paul framed the matchup as a step toward rebuilding. He called Doumbe “just another world champion that I’m going up against” and said the point of the fight is “getting more experience coming back after a very tough fight with Anthony Joshua.”
The stakes he attached to it are the part people keep circling. In the MVP press release announcing the bout, Paul said he would retire from pro boxing if Doumbe beats him, and BJPenn.com reported he doubled down on that during the press conference. Boxing News 24 has already floated whether the two could meet in MMA at some point, though that sits firmly in hypothetical territory for now.
Doumbe’s honest admission
Here’s a detail that jumped off the page. Doumbe has openly said he isn’t in fighting shape yet and is working his way back into it, with roughly six weeks until the opening bell. He still believes he’ll put Paul away, and he says he won’t need his kicks to do it. Paul sees it the other way. He thinks stripping Doumbe down to two hands will leave the kickboxer short on tools once the fight starts.
Paul has also been aiming higher in his comments. After Canelo Alvarez beat Christian Mbilli, Paul talked about wanting to share the ring with him someday. Losing to Doumbe would end that conversation before it starts.
My take: nobody can verify a healed jaw at a press table, and Paul knows that. The only proof comes when a two-time Glory champ, who has spent a career landing clean shots, finally touches it in Dubai. If Doumbe really is behind on conditioning, Paul’s smartest move is to make him work early and often. If Doumbe shows up sharp, the titanium talk is going to get tested in Round 1.
