Jake Paul once chased Conor McGregor’s friend, Dillon Danis, down the road from the back of a truck and hurled water balloons at him. Paul frequently drags the wives and girlfriends of his rivals into storylines with insults. He stole Floyd Mayweather’s hat off his head in the leadup to the undefeated boxing champ’s fight with Paul’s brother, Logan.
The 5-0 professional boxer, who currently lives in Puerto Rico, shares a lot of his life on the internet. There are things, though, he chooses to keep private. Even things that would add further to his fame. He never documented the time he did shrooms with Mike Tyson while vacationing in St. Barts at the start of the year.
“That is true,” Paul told The Post when asked if he really did psychedelics with Tyson, who previously revealed the scene on a podcast in March.
“In my free time, I’m very spiritual, which a lot of people don’t see.”
Paul played a different role as Amanda Serrano’s promoter after adding her to his Most Valuable Promotions and BAVAFA Sports rosters last September.
Paul made a big push for Serrano’s historic bout with Katie Taylor — the Irish undisputed champion, ranked the No. 1 pound-for-pound women’s boxer in the world — at a sold out Madison Square Garden last Saturday, that ended in a split-decision victory for Taylor. He mostly put the spotlight on the women’s bout and off of him.
It will always be difficult for some to separate the clownish internet version of Paul that has lined his pockets with millions and garnered over 20 million subscribers on his YouTube channel from what he suggests is reality.
“Meditation like shrooms for me is like a very spiritual thing. It’s very powerful. It’s life changing, honestly. But I just like to hang out with my friends and watch movies. I don’t do all of that much crazy stuff,” said Paul, who also enjoys off-roading, dirt-biking and fishing with friends when he’s not spending time with his girlfriend, Julia Rose.
“No one gets to see the real me and everyone has a preconceived notion of who I am and how I act because they see all this crazy stuff online and flashiness. I think there are so many [misconceptions] about me, and [people] just know that side of me.”
Paul shifted his focus to a lucrative boxing career in August 2018, when he defeated British YouTuber Deji Olatunji in an amateur contest via TKO in the fifth round.
“But until you meet someone and know them and have been around them for years, you can never judge their character,” Paul said. “We’ve all had that one friend who you think you know after a year of being with them. And then boom, all of a sudden they’re different or they change or switch up… So how can you judge someone based off of the internet? And yeah, I’m still writing this legacy, but I think I’m just a kid living the American dream.”
Paul’s outspoken personality and unapologetic trash talk has earned him the nickname “The Problem Child.” The 25-year-old millionaire isn’t shy about calling out his opponents and launching lewd insults at other fighters on social media. He often documents his pranks and feuds on YouTube.
“I carry a lot of responsibility and weight on my shoulders, and I want to show young kids what’s possible,” Paul said. “And I’m just doing my best at figuring this all out and coming from a first generation of success. And sometimes I’ll make mistakes. Sometimes I’ll do stupid s–t. But yeah, I have a good heart. I’m a good person and I’m trying to do s–t that no one’s ever done before, and it’s not easy.”
Paul’s girlfriend, Rose, who was by his side throughout fight week leading up to the Serrano-Taylor bout, told The Post that she hopes Paul will one day showcase the softer side of him that the public doesn’t see.
Paul isn’t affected by negative comments online because he said he is built for the spotlight.
“I mean, I think [my confidence] comes from preparation and knowing how hard I train in the gym and behind the scenes and how prepared I am for these fights where I just know I’m going to win and there’s really no other option,” he said. “I will always find a way to win and that comes from my coaches as well, you know, believing in me and giving me that confidence and telling me how good my ability is. Just being built for this. The pressure and the big moments in the spotlight doesn’t really get to me.
“And I don’t care what people on the internet are saying. You know, it’s like most of these comments are coming from people who are living off of their mom’s Wi-Fi or commenting off of their mom’s Wi-Fi, like they don’t even pay for it themselves. If someone that I respect says something negative, then I take a look at it and try to use it as constructive criticism. But all these Twitter trolls and YouTube comments again, like most of these kids are probably 12 years old or 15 years old. They’ve never accomplished anything in their lives. So why would you worry about what they have to say?”
Last December, Serrano told The Post that people don’t know “the real” Paul and said she believes critics “only want to see the negative” when it comes to him.
“He’s in his twenties, he’s living his life,” Serrano said at the time. “But now he’s doing something great, and you just have to acknowledge it.”
Paul tweeted Sunday afternoon he will return to fighting on Aug. 13, but his opponent and a venue has yet to be announced. He began training again in March after taking a few months off to promote Serrano full-time.
“I think this will be the craziest knockout that I’ll have, like my power is increasing so much in this offseason,” Paul said. “My goal is to knock someone through the ropes and have them fall through the ropes onto the ground.”
Paul last fought in December, beating Tyron Woodley in a sixth-round stoppage, his second consecutive win against the former UFC champion. He is 5-0 with four knockouts in his pro fighting career.
Although it remains to be seen who Paul will take on next, Tyson said last week that he would fight Paul for the right price. The former heavyweight champion has previously denied rumors that the two had been negotiating a potential bout.
