Jake Paul is fed up with the relentless accusations of fight-fixing.
The YouTuber and boxer has retained powerhouse lawyer Alex Spiro to pursue legal action against anyone who has claimed that Paul’s fights are staged or fixed, sources tell The Post.
“I’ve been retained by Mr. Paul to pursue legal redress for the damages he has suffered,” Spiro told The Post. “If someone uses their public soapbox to harm him and the sport with lies, there will be consequences.”
Spiro, who has previously taken daring cases such as representing Aaron Hernandez in a double homicide case, has also represented Elon Musk in numerous cases, including one defamation case.
This comes as Paul fought 58-year-old Mike Tyson in a boxing match last November, where Tyson was oddly not active in the fight and appeared to have trouble standing up by the end of it.
Some comments by Paul appeared to stir the pot of some conspiracy theory-driven fans when Paul said he “wanted to give the fans a show” and that he “didn’t want to hurt somebody that didn’t need to be hurt.”
The dicey optics of the fight prompted widespread rage from fans, and some pundits even claimed that the fight was fixed despite it being a sanctioned bout by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR).
Paul had previously threatened to sue English journalist and broadcaster Piers Morgan for saying that his fights were fixed.
After the threat, Morgan doubled down on his stance..
“I don’t see how he can possibly contradict the fact that he clearly stages fights which are to his obvious benefit. He’s choosing opponents who are not at their peak,” Morgan said. “They are way past their peak. They are much older. He’s staging events that are entertaining at a certain level. He’s making a ton of money but the idea that these are doing anything but damaging the integrity of boxing I think is for the birds.”
There are other high-profile personalities Spiro could attempt to take action against.
Sylvester Stallone, who famously donned movie screens as fictional boxing legend Rocky Balboa, also called Paul’s fight against Tyson a sham.
“Business is business. SOMETIMES you have to do some things you HAVE to do sacrifice for the sake of helping your FAMILY… what we saw was him giving one of the great Oscar-winning performances of all time!!!! HE SPARED YOUR LIFE!” Stallone wrote in a now-deleted social media post.
Stallone later apologized for the since-deleted social media post.
Other possible infringers include combat sports stars Paddy Pimblett, Dillon Danis, and Tommy Fury.
Paul, who fought Tyson to a unanimous decision victory, had received so many fight-fixing comments that his public relations outlet, Most Valuable Promotions, had to release a statement about it.
“Both fighters in good faith performed to the best of their abilities with the goal of winning the fight,” MVP said in a statement after Paul defeated Tyson. “There were absolutely no restrictions — contractual or otherwise — around either fighter. Each boxer was able to use his full arsenal to win the fight. Any agreement to the contrary would violate TDLR (Texas Department of Licensing and Regulations) boxing rules.”
There have been a few sports-related lawsuits recently in relation to defamation of character, including Brett Favre, who sued Pat McAfee and Shannon Sharpe for “egregiously false statements,” although that wound up being dropped by the Packers legend.
