Jake Paul is your boxing anti-hero.
Much like Muhammad Ali, who was not well received in his early days as Cassius Clay, Paul plans to convert the non-believers when he continues on his path of destruction, which could result in a unified world title, as well as an Olympic gold medal.
It all starts with knocking out Mike Tyson on Netflix.
“At the end of the day, people are always going to have something to say. It’s because of who I am,” Paul said during his Fanatics Fest press conference. “I proved everyone wrong. Reminder: the most hated and most criticized boxer in the sport of boxing before they loved them was Muhammad Ali. So I’m the anti-hero, and people will love me soon enough once they realize what I’ve done for this sport and who I truly am. But it doesn’t bother me at the end of the day, because when you’re at the top, people are clawing to rip you down. And that’s just the way the game goes.”
One of the people clawing to rip him down is former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping, who seems to be obsessed with everything “El Gallo” does inside the “sweet science” with how often “The Count” complains about him on YouTube.
“Jake Paul, he’s a total — he’s just a tool bag,” Bisping said during the Paul presser. “I’m not going to lower myself and swear. Look at him. It’s nice to see that he’s finally getting booed and the kind of response that he deserves. You are a disgrace to the combat world. You’re an imposter. You’re a wannabe. You’re a fake. Challenge yourself, you pathetic man, you pathetic individual. Fighting is about challenging yourself. Granted, business. Killing it in that regard. But don’t give me this fighter bullshit. That’s what gets on my nerves. [Tyson is] almost 60. He’s almost a pensioner.”
Paul was booed during the New York City media event but did not let the vitriol deter him from mapping out his future in combat sports. While “El Gallo” was originally planning to have Conor McGregor as his “final boss,” the end game now appears to be a boxing mega-fight against Mexican mauler Canelo Alvarez.
“I’m still on the path to become world champion,” Paul continued. “There’s a lot of shit talkers out there, a lot of big names who want to fight me. I still want Canelo Alvarez and I want to go on the path to world championship and that’s what I’m here to do. And I will make it happen. And when it happens, people are going to go, ‘God damn that kid did something we didn’t.’ Mike is the one that wanted it to be a pro fight, so he’s going to get his ass knocked out. You’re going to see on BoxRec, Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson. Jake Paul KOs Mike Tyson.”
Paul boxes Tyson on Nov. 15 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.