The pledge was delivered alongside the official announcement of the Christmas Eve fight, and it raises the stakes on a bout Jake Paul is not favoured to win on paper.

“If he wins, I will hang up the gloves and call it a day,” Paul said.

The eight-round contest will be fought at cruiserweight (200lbs) in 10oz gloves under full professional boxing rules, according to Sky Sports. Most Valuable Promotions, the company Paul co-founded, is staging the card.

The Joshua damage still lingers

The last time Paul stepped through the ropes, Anthony Joshua stopped him in the sixth round at Miami’s Kaseya Center on 19 December 2025 and left him with a jaw broken in two places. Two surgeries later, Paul is carrying titanium plates in his mouth.

Read also: “Not a penalty” – Spanish referees admit major mistake in controversial Mbappé decision

He told reporters the recovery nearly ended his career on its own.

“He broke my jaw. I have two titanium plates in my mouth. I couldn’t eat for weeks,” Paul said.

That defeat dropped his professional record to 12-2 (7 KOs) and closed a run of easier matchmaking that had included a 58-year-old Mike Tyson in 2024.

Doumbe is a different kind of problem

Cédric Doumbe is a 34-year-old Cameroon-born Frenchman who made his name as a two-time Glory welterweight kickboxing world champion. His kickboxing record stands at 75-7-1 with 45 knockouts, and he is 6-1 in MMA. His only previous professional boxing contest was a win over Mohamed Fodil in April 2015.

Read also: The Spurs did not need Wembanyama’s scoring to bury the Jazz

Paul has talked up his own boxing credentials.

“This is BOXING,” he told Sky Sports, promising to have the Frenchman “for dinner in Dubai on Christmas Eve.”

Doumbe’s reply was shorter.

“Jake loves to talk. I’m going to finish the job Joshua started,” he said.

Read also: “We need to step up” – Erling Haaland criticises Man City after Champions League winner

A third loss would land differently

Paul’s crossover career has absorbed two defeats so far, both wrapped back into the wider YouTuber-boxing show. A retirement promise locks a third loss to a different standard: he either beats a striker with 45 kickboxing knockouts, or his in-ring career ends by his own pledge.

The bout at the Coca-Cola Arena is scheduled for 24 December.

Read also: John Fury: The loser of Fury vs Joshua will never recover from the humiliation