Inside Jake Paul’s ‘paradise’ Puerto Rico training camp where YouTuber sparred Tommy Fury’s opponent Anthony Taylor
JAKE PAUL says he is training in ‘paradise’ by preparing to fight Tyron Woodley in Puerto Rico.
The YouTuber moved to the Caribbean island with his brother Logan earlier in the year, to escape the distractions of Los Angeles.
Paul, 3-0 as a boxer all by knockout, has set up shop in Big Bear California, Las Vegas and Miami for his three prior fights.
All of those are considered training hotspots Stateside, with countless sparring partners and gyms to choose from.
But the social media sensation decided to relocate over 3,000 miles away to swap the bright lights of America for the local village life in Puerto Rico.
Paul, 24, told SunSport: “I’ve loved every one of my training camps.
“I think isolation has been the biggest key to a successful training camp and not having any distractions. And Puerto Rico is an amazing place for that.
“There’s hyper-focus down, even if you want to do something fun, sometimes there’s not really much going on.
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“When I was in Miami for the Ben Askren training camp, there was like 100 people on the weekends, trying to get me to do something.
“Even that energy to respond to them, to say, ‘Hey, no I can’t come out’. Even that is a distraction in of itself.
“I love it down here, the runs are amazing on the beach, this is a magical, paradise of a place to get your mind right and to just focus on the task ahead.”
Paul is coached by head trainer BJ Flores – a former cruiserweight contender – and super-middleweight boxer JLeon Love.
Also a regular fixture in his camp is Anthony Taylor – a 7-5 MMA fighter.
Taylor, 32, provided Paul with sparring before he beat Ben Askren, 37, in April and has done the same for his return against Woodley, 39.
More interestingly, the Bellator lightweight will fight on the undercard against Britain’s Tommy Fury.
The idea is to have Fury, 22, announce himself to the US market and build towards a potential fight with Paul, who he has rivalled in recent months.
And fighting Paul’s sparring partner and friend Taylor only adds fuel to the feud.
But, following countless rounds of sparring together, the American warned Fury could be stopped in his tracks.
Paul said: “Anthony is a great fighter, he’s a tough kid and I think Tommy has a very hard fight against him coming up, and I think he’s underestimating his opponent.
“I think that’s a terrible thing to do, and I want Anthony to win.
“I want him to beat Tommy, and be like, ‘Yo, Tommy, you can’t even beat my sparring partner, who are you going to beat me?’
“It’s going to be a fun one one to watch.”
Paul faces undoubtedly his toughest test to date in the form of Woodley, a former UFC welterweight champion.
With wins over fellow YouTuber ‘AnEsonGib’, ex-NBA player Nate Robinson, 37, and retired UFC fighter Ben Askren, 37, there are still question marks over his legitimacy as a fighter.
But not only does Paul plan to continue answering his critics in the ring, he has now set his sights on unthinkably going all the way in the sport.
He said: “The end-game now is to become a world champion, just to say I did it because everyone said I couldn’t.
“To get a world championship belt and to make history and leave an everlasting impact on this sport, create amazing events, and cards and fights that people remember forever.
“And to retire on top.”