Nov 4 (Reuters) – Jake Paul said he would retire from boxing if he loses to former kickboxing world champion and mixed martial arts fighter Cedric Doumbe when they meet in Dubai on December 24.
The eight-round cruiserweight bout will be the American’s first fight since a sixth-round stoppage defeat by former heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua in Miami last December, a setback that left the 29-year-old with a broken jaw and required multiple surgeries.
“This is a dangerous fight,” Paul said in a social media video on Tuesday.
“Cedric has been in there with killers his whole career. He’s a two-time world champion and he’s not scared of anybody… If he wins, I will hang up the gloves and call it a day, but if he loses, the man who calls himself ‘The Best’ just got beat up by a YouTuber with a titanium jaw.”
Doumbe, a two-time kickboxing world champion with a 75-7-1 record and 45 knockouts, has spent most of his combat sports career outside the boxing ring.
Since switching to mixed martial arts, the 34-year-old has won six of his seven professional bouts, including a nine-second stoppage of Jordan Zebo in September 2023.
Paul, who made his name as a social media personality before entering professional boxing, has a 12-2 record, with losses to Britain’s Tommy Fury and Joshua.
Paul and Doumbe will face the media at promotional events in Paris on November 10 and Dubai two days later.
(Reporting by Suramya Kaushik in BengaluruEditing by Christian Radnedge)
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