Jake Paul, who faces 58-year-old Mike Tyson on Friday, wants to be taken seriously as a boxing contender.
That is not so easy when the self-professed ‘Problem Child’ strides into the room with bright red hair and a rooster placed on his head.
“What rooster?” a straight-faced Paul asks.
Not everybody gets his humour, but whether the camera is rolling or not Paul is committed to being the showman.
“Sometimes you have to do stupid things like wearing rooster hair to build your brand,” he says.
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The 27-year-old made his name by posting prank videos online and has since become a social media celebrity with over 70m followers across all platforms.
His transition into professional boxing has led to 10 wins, mostly against ex UFC fighters, and a loss to Briton Tommy Fury in 2022.
Paul is a novice boxer who generates huge interest. Some 60,000 people are expected to attend his fight with Tyson.
But some traditional boxing fans feel he makes a mockery of the sport, particularly with audacious claims he could beat superstar Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez or by comparing himself to Muhammad Ali.
His decision to fight former heavyweight world champion Tyson, who suffered a stomach ulcer flare-up in the summer, only galvanised his critics.
But how did Paul become such a phenomenon – and how much of what he says should we buy into?
