WBA drops Jake Paul out of cruiserweight rankings

YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul is no longer ranked by the World Boxing Association following his knockout loss to former heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua on Dec. 19.

Paul (12-2, seven KOs) was the No. 15 cruiserweight (200-pound limit) in the sanctioning body's November rankings but was not in the top 15 with the Dec. 31 release of the new rankings.

Edin Puhalo (27-3-0, 26 KOs) of Bosnia is the new No. 15 behind WBA champion Gilberto Ramirez (48-1-0, 30 KOs).

Paul, 28, made his rankings debut at No. 14 in July after defeating Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in June, making him eligible for a world title bout.

Instead, Paul eventually fought Joshua at heavyweight (over 224 pounds), getting knocked down twice in the fifth round and twice more in the sixth before the bout was halted. Paul revealed the next morning that he sustained a double fracture to his jaw in the defeat.

Joshua, a former two-time unified heavyweight champion and 2012 Olympic gold medalist from Great Britain, improved to 29-4 (26 KOs).

The 36-year-old was a passenger in a deadly car crash on Monday outside Lagos, Nigeria. Joshua, whose parents are Nigerian, sustained minor injuries in the collision in which trainer Latif "Latz" Ayodele and strength and conditioning coach Sina Ghami died.

Joshua was released from the hospital on Wednesday to continue recovery at home, Nigerian officials said.