Jake Paul gained weight ahead of his fight with Mike Tyson this summer and has admitted it affected his training.
Jake Paul has admitted that moving up to heavyweight has slowed his training down.
Paul will face ring legend Mike Tyson in Texas in July. Having previously fought at cruiserweight, he will be making his debut at the heaviest weight class in boxing. Paul has put on a lot of weight and now weighs 230 pounds, which he says is roughly the same weight that former heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua has weighed in before.
And the YouTube sensation, who starts as the favourite to beat the 58-year-old Tyson, revealed that although the extra weight has given him more punching power, it has made it harder to adapt to his cardio training.
“I definitely have a little bit more power, but it's most important to me to fight on the inside, to clinch and not get pushed around by the heavyweights,” he told TMZ Sports. “I'm definitely a lot slower when I'm jogging. I feel like a rhino or something, and it's definitely a lot harder to jog.”
“Everything is going well, but moving up to heavyweight was a bit of a change. I needed to gain weight so I could fight Mike Tyson and not get thrown around in the ring. We've been sparring heavyweights and I've been eating a lot more. Mike Tyson calls me fat, but I believe fat turns into muscle. Come fight night, I think I'll be able to move and dance in the ring like a real heavyweight.”
Meanwhile, Paul insists Tyson will still be the challenger on fight day, despite the 30-year age gap. “He's been described as the scariest man on the planet, so we'll find out. Apparently he's the final boss… I love the biggest challenge in the world,” he said.
“That's why I've taken big risks my whole career, I've gone after the toughest opponents. I've gone after the biggest fights, I've gone after making history, that's what I've done my whole career. And this is no different. Netflix, Mike Tyson. There's no bigger fight than this. Everybody's going to watch on July 20th.”
