Jake Paul has revealed his rivalry with fellow YouTube star KSI comes from seeing his brother Logan "emotionally hurt" after losing to the Brit in 2019.
Logan and KSI fought to a majority draw in a white-collar fight in 2018 and met the following year as they both made their professional debuts. Both of the events were a huge success on pay-per-view as KSI won the rematch by split decision in a fight that sold two-million pay-per-views, placing it in the top five highest selling-fights in history.
Paul has been touted to avenge his brother's loss to KSI for years, but the pair are yet to meet in the ring. KSI stepped foot in the ring for the first time in almost three years with a 'two fights in one night' gimmick event last month, with the Brit expected to have a tune-up fight in January before eventually hosting Paul at Wembley Stadium in London next summer.
Speaking of his feud with KSI on the BS podcast, Paul said: "Logan grabbed me and he was drunk in this sprinter van and I could tell how badly he was emotionally hurting from the loss to KSI.
"I was seeing him and he was like drinking from the bottle, whilst I was sitting there sober. He was talking with his friends about the loss and I saw how badly it hurt him. In that same sprinter van ride, he grabbed me by the neck and said 'you have to beat KSI for our family'.
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"The whole thing just made me so alive and I felt like I had to go on this mission to beat this kid. So I beat [AnEsonGib], start boxing like crazy up in Big Bear and training with Shane Mosley and before you know it I fall in love with the sport. Now it's just this feud that's been going for five years and it's the ultimate fight in this influencer, celebrity [boxing] thing."
Paul, who fights UFC legend Anderson Silva on October 29, wants half of KSI's equity in his drinks company with Logan, Prime Hydration, if he wins their fight next summer. Paul has also dismissed the legitimacy of KSI's recent wins, both of which did not go on his professional record.
"He hasn't beat anybody, he fought a rapper and a trash garbage man who just rolled over," he added. "What's crazy is if Logan and KSI fought now, Logan would destroy him but people don't want to talk about that. Logan went through a year of training to fight Floyd Mayweather when KSI was doing rap music. You can't make up for time in the fight game, experience is everything. That's why no matter what, I don't think KSI will fight me because he'll never be able to catch up to my skill level."