Jake Paul has been left with a ‘bad’ nose injury just over a week from his fight with Anthony Joshua.
The YouTuber-turned-boxer will take on the two-time heavyweight world champion in Miami next Friday in a professional bout being billed as one of the biggest mismatches in boxing history.
Paul was originally scheduled to fight Gervonta Davis in November – a man half Joshua’s weight and over a foot shorter. When those plans changed, the American set about recruiting giants of the heavyweight division to join his fight camp for sparring.
Lawrence Okolie, once a protégé of Joshua, has made the trip out to Puerto Rico with American star Jared Anderson also working with Paul in the ring. Title contender Frank Sanchez has also been in camp, leaving some damage on Paul after one particularly intense session.
Paul appeared on the Pat McAfeee Show with his nose visibly crooked after being ‘cracked’ by Sanchez.
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Paul did not confirm whether it had been broken, telling the show: ‘It is even more crooked, brother. I’m not going to lie, sparring the heavyweights has moved my nose a couple of millimetres this camp.
‘A guy by the name of Frank Sanchez definitely cracked it a little bit so it definitely has a slight little something in there. But yeah man, it’s bad.’
It is not the first sparring incident that has left Paul marked up. Last week, the American was spotted sporting a black eye, later revealing the 6ft 6in Okolie did the damage.
Paul has shared pictures of him alongside the heavyweight giants in his gym but one former world champion believes those training partners have been holding back.
Carl Froch, who still fears the fight could be called off just eight days away from the opening bell, has demanded Paul release the training footage, unconvinced there is any real sparring going on behind the scenes.
‘They’re not sparring f****g Jake Paul,’ Froch told GamesHub.
‘They’re moving around with him, touching him up with a little jab and the little technical bulls**t. They’re not sparring him.
‘Lawrence Okolie is quite a good puncher. He’s big now. Jake Paul’s not good enough to spar him. So let’s see the footage. Let’s see the sparring and then I’ll believe it.
‘I still don’t believe the Jake Paul vs AJ fight is going to happen, but I’ve got flights booked.’