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CLEVELAND – Jake Paul wore expensive jewelry to a press conference Thursday, but not a shirt.
Tyron Woodley mocked his polarizing opponent for arriving shirtless to promote their Showtime Pay-Per-View main event Sunday night at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. An unfazed Paul took the same apathetic approach to Woodley’s words that he typically takes to criticism.
The 24-year-old Paul couldn’t care less what Woodley or anyone else says about what he does in or out of the boxing ring. The Westlake, Ohio, native believes a lot of people who’ve condemned him for his often-boorish behavior on social media or for a boxing novice making massive amounts of money in this sport simply envy him and what he has accomplished.
“Jealousy is one of the, you know, biggest evils in this world,” Paul said during the press conference at the Hilton. “And I think there’s a lot of people that are jealous, that don’t think I deserve to be in this spot, you know, that wish they could be here. And I’m polarizing. I get it. You know, I’m loud, I do stupid sh!t, I go to press conferences with my shirt off, because I don’t give a f— what people think. And most people aren’t like that. They hold what’s inside their mouths, they, you know, are scared to rub people the wrong way.
“I don’t give a sh*t. The haters don’t sign my paycheck, I do. So, you know, that’s why people don’t like me. That’s why some people wanna see me lose. They think this is a circus. They don’t think this is good for boxing. Well, guess what? It is, I’m here to stay and I’m gonna knock out this f***ing guy, and move on to the next one.”
Paul will attempt to improve to 4-0 in his eight-round cruiserweight fight against Woodley, a 39-year-old former UFC welterweight champion. Woodley, of Ferguson, Missouri, lost his last four MMA matches before his UFC contract expired in the spring.
The extremely confident Paul repeatedly predicted that he’ll knock out Woodley in what is expected to be the most difficult fight of Paul’s brief boxing career.
None of Paul’s three fights against YouTube rival Ali Eson Gib, former NBA point guard Nate Robinson and retired UFC fighter Ben Askren lasted beyond the second round. Paul stopped Gib and Askren in the first round.
Woodley’s age and losing streak notwithstanding, Paul remains just a 2-1 favorite, according to most Internet sports books. They’ll headline a five-fight pay-per-view telecast that Showtime will distribute as part of its new multi-fight agreement with Paul (8 p.m. EDT; $59.99).
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.