Jake Paul has hit out at "f***ing idiot" Freddie Roach after the legendary trainer claimed Mike Tyson walked out after just 30 seconds of watching the YouTuber spar.
Paul has won his first five professional fights and will next take on the challenge of UFC legend Anderson Silva on October 29 in Phoenix. The YouTube star has also been linked with a fight against boxing legend Tyson, who is a big fan of the content creator's career and has regularly defended his presence in the sport.
Trainer Roach, who owns the famous Wildcard gym in Los Angeles, claimed he hosted a sparring session for Paul where Tyson was present but he was more interested in the artwork. "Tyson looked at him and left," Roach told FightHype. "He watched 30 seconds of him sparring and left. He said, 'Freddie, can we go downstairs and look at the pictures?' That's my gym and he knows that's where the good pictures are. He wasn't as interested as I was."
Paul has issued a dismissive response to the claim, telling talkSPORT : "First and foremost, I saw these things that Freddie Roach was saying – that I was like sparring at his gym. First of all, I've never even trained at Wild Card gym, Freddie is a f***ing idiot, he's a hater. He literally trains zero good fighters anymore and is a Jake Paul hater.
"Mike Tyson has never watched me spar, Mike Tyson has never been in the gym at the same time as me sparring. I went to Wild Card like once to talk to somebody for a meeting and for my brother's press conference there. But Mike Tyson wasn't anywhere in the vicinity, so it's just Freddie Roach spreading rumours."
Reports indicated Paul and Tyson had agreed to face each other last year, which the pair strongly dismissed afterwards despite revealing their intentions to one day touch gloves. The legendary heavyweight claimed he would not return to the ring before making a U-turn and offering the YouTuber a deadline of the end of this year to make the fight.
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However it now looks extremely unlikely to materialise particularly with Tyson being struck down with episodes of sciatica, which have left him temporarily unable to walk. Despite Paul still recently claiming he would pursue the fight, the 25-year-old has revealed talks have currently stalled over a potential clash.
"I don't know if he wants to get active again,' Paul told the Daily Mail when asked about where an exhibition between him and 'Iron' currently stands. "He said maybe later in the year, but I don't know where things stand. I would love to do that fight. But he has to also be down to train for it."
