Jake Paul has fired back at Freddie Roach, calling the Hall of Fame trainer an "idiot" for spreading what Paul says are false stories about Mike Tyson watching him spar at Wild Card gym.
The YouTuber-turned-fighter strongly denied Roach's claims in a recent interview with TalkSPORT. Paul insisted he's never trained at Wild Card and that Tyson has never seen him spar.
"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****** idiot, he's a hater."
Paul explained he's only been to Wild Card once for a meeting and his brother's press conference. He stressed that Tyson wasn't there at the time.
"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. Especially because me and Mike are friends man."
The controversy started when Roach, who trained Tyson for two fights, claimed in an interview with FightHype that he let Paul use the ring at his gym. Roach said Tyson watched Paul spar for 30 seconds before losing interest.
"The kid's okay, a club fighter … I don't know him personally and I've never really met him. He was in my gym and wondered if they could use the ring and I said go ahead."
Roach went on to say:
"Tyson looked at him and left. He saw 30 seconds of him sparring and said, 'Freddie, can we go down and see the pictures?' He knows that's where the good pictures are. He wasn't as interested as I was."
Paul and Tyson are set to face each other on November 15 at AT&T; Stadium in Texas. The fight has sparked controversy due to Tyson's age and inactivity – 'Iron Mike' hasn't competed professionally since 2005.
As the war of words heats up, fans will have to wait until fight night to see who comes out on top in this unusual matchup between the social media star and the legendary former heavyweight champion.
