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Boxing

18th Dec 2021

Jake Paul has started to experience symptoms of long-term brain damage

Simon Bland

‘Sometimes in my speech, there’s like every 100th or 200th word I’ll mess up or like slur, which I didn’t do that before’

Youtuber-turned-fighter Jake Paul says that he’s already experiencing symptoms of boxing’s most notorious long-term after effects, including memory loss and slurred speech.

The boxer, who goes up against fellow fighter Tyron Woodley for a hotly-anticipated rematch later this evening, may have only been active in the sport for a short while and yet it’s already taking a toll on his body.

Before he started his boxing career in 2018, Paul says he had a brain scan to see what his head-health was like before embarking on this often-dangerous career path. However after four intense matches, the controversial star has said that the state of his brain has worsened.

“I got my brain scanned right before I started boxing and the doctor told me there’s lack of blood flow from the concussions I had playing football to certain areas on my brain,” the 24-year-old told American journalist Graham Bensinger during a recent interview.

“One of them I believe is the frontal lobe which is partial for memory and so on. After my first year of boxing I went back and it was worse,” he continued.

“[The doctors] advice is don’t do that sport. That’s all they can advise as a doctor, I think before it was affecting me at a rapid pace because I never took it easy.

While this news is undoubtedly concerning, Paul went on to reveal that he’s already noticing the impact it’s having on his day-to-day life.

“I was always thrown in there with people who were way better than me until I started to slowly get to their level,” he explained. “I notice it in conversations with my girlfriends or friends, not remembering something that I should be able to remember that happened a couple days ago.

“Sometimes in my speech, there’s like every 100th or 200th word I’ll mess up or like slur, which I didn’t do that before.”

Despite these warning signs, Paul is due to return to the ring later this evening to fight Tyron Woodley after his original opponent – Love Island UK star Tommy Fury – pulled out a few weeks back citing health issues.

To make matters worse for Paul’s banged up brain, he’s reportedly offered Woodley an incentive of $500,000 (£375,000) if he can knock him out.

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