Jake Paul has been removed from the World Boxing Association's (WBA) official cruiserweight rankings, a direct consequence of his knockout defeat to Anthony Joshua last month. The YouTuber-turned-boxer's brief tenure in the sanctioning body's top 15 has ended following the high-profile bout in Miami.
A Heavyweight Defeat with Cruiserweight Consequences
The decisive loss occurred at the Kaseya Center in Miami, where former two-time heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua stopped Paul in the sixth round of a scheduled eight-round contest. Joshua scored four knockdowns before the referee intervened, handing Paul his second professional defeat. The impact was severe, with Paul suffering a broken jaw in two places that required surgical intervention post-fight.
Despite the fight taking place at heavyweight, it had immediate repercussions for Paul's standing at cruiserweight. He had entered the WBA's rankings at number 14 in July after a unanimous decision win over Julio César Chávez Jr. in Anaheim, California. He was listed at number 15 going into the Joshua bout, which drew a massive global audience of 33 million viewers on streaming platform Netflix, though the contest itself carried no ranking implications for the heavyweight division.
The End of a Brief Ranking Run
This knockout marks Paul's first defeat since a split-decision loss to Tommy Fury in 2023 and conclusively ends his short-lived position within the WBA's elite cruiserweights. For Anthony Joshua, the victory represented a successful return to the ring after his own knockout loss to Daniel Dubois in September of the previous year. Joshua stated after the fight that his explicit aim was to "pin [Paul] down and hurt him," a strategy he executed effectively.
What Comes Next?
The removal from the rankings poses a significant setback for Paul's stated goal of pursuing a legitimate world title in boxing. It underscores the competitive gap he must bridge to be considered among the sport's established contenders. The event's success on Netflix, however, highlights the continued enormous commercial appeal of crossover boxing spectacles, blending sports and entertainment on a global scale.
For the WBA, the situation highlights the occasional friction between boxing's traditional ranking systems and the new era of influencer-led events. Paul's inclusion and subsequent removal from the list followed standard protocols based on fight results, but the journey from online fame to ranked fighter and back out again has been remarkably swift.
