The hidden side of Jake Paul
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Jake Paul spends a lot of his time being insincere, to devastating effect. Alex Pattle tries to find the man behind the mocking. “Are we doing video?” Jake Paul asks, half-aiming the question at me and half-directing it towards his representative on the Zoom call. “Err, yeah?” I reply. “I don’t usually upload the video from these sorts of chats, but...”.
![[Paul during his defeat by Tommy Fury in Saudi Arabia – the first loss of his career]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2023/02/27/01/PAUL-FURY_28067.jpg)
But it would seem strange to interview one of the biggest screen presences of the last decade and not have him appear, well, on screen. ‘Biggest’ replaces ‘most popular’ here, given the word ‘popular’ tends to imply widespread affection, and it’s fair to say that Paul is more well-known than well-liked. Controversies have arisen at intervals since the American emerged on Vine in 2013, three years before his two-season stint on the Disney Channel series Bizaardvark. Paul, 27, has nevertheless only seen his profile grow in the decade since, with 20 million YouTube subscribers and 27m Instagram followers at the time of writing. Still, he does not identify as a YouTuber or influencer anymore; he’s a professional boxer.
![[Paul knocked out Tyron Woodley in their short-notice rematch in 2021]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2021/12/19/06/newFile.jpg)
If his knockout win over former NBA star Nate Robinson in 2020 didn’t convince you, or his knockouts of MMA stars Tyron Woodley and Ben Askren in 2021, or his decision win over UFC legend Anderson Silva in 2022, then he hoped his fight with Tommy Fury would have. Well, kind of; Paul would argue he doesn’t care what you think at all, even after Fury outpointed him in February 2023.
![[Paul dropping Nate Diaz in their bout in August 2024]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2023/08/06/06/SEI166711185.jpg)
He bounced back with a decision win over another UFC legend Nate Diaz and first-round knockouts of Andre August and Ryan Bourland. An intriguing, if controversial, fight against Mike Tyson was lined up for July, before the former heavyweight champion was forced to postpone until November 15 due to a health scare – meaning professional MMA fighter/bare-knuckle boxer Mike Perry stepped up. Paul dispatched Perry, clearing the way for his seismic clash with Tyson, which will stream live on Netflix.
