International superstar and serial risk-taker Jake “The Problem Child” Paul offered a glimpse into his mindset as he puts the finishing touches on training camp just eight days out from taking on the toughest test of his career in UFC legend and accomplished boxer Anderson “The Spider” Silva. The must-see eight-round main event bout takes place on Saturday, October 29 in a Most Valuable Promotions event live on SHOWTIME PPV (9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT) from Desert Diamond Arena, just outside of Phoenix, Ariz.
Paul’s co-trainer BJ Flores, a former cruiserweight world title challenger, also shared insight into the rigorous training camp that’s coming to a close in Paul’s adopted home of Dorado, Puerto Rico. With the help of fellow co-trainer Danny Smith and Team Paul members J’Leon Love and Jacob Chavez, both Paul and Flores believe fans will see a vastly improved fighter since the last time Paul stepped into a ring 10 months ago.
After scheduled bouts with pro boxers Tommy Fury and Hasim Rahman Jr. were scuttled, Paul had to quickly shift his attention as he entered training camp for arguably a far tougher opponent. With deft footwork and an educated jab, Silva showed in a win over former middleweight boxing champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. that he is near the peak of his striking powers in what shapes up to be one of the most intriguing bouts of 2022.
The Paul vs. Silva event is co-produced by Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) and SHOWTIME PPV and is available now for purchase in the United States at SHOWTIME.com/ppv and via the SHOWTIME® app for a suggested retail price of $59.95 (SRP). Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at ticketmaster.com. The official promo for the event was inspired by the 1983 cult classic Scarface and is available to watch and share HERE.
Here is what Paul and Flores had to say about training camp, facing Silva and more:
JAKE PAUL
On the challenge of facing Anderson Silva:
“It’s always good to have a big challenge because it pushes you to be perfect. There’s no room for lack of motivation or down time or complaining or anything like that. I know that this is a massive opportunity to catapult myself into the history books. To be a legend, you have to beat a legend and that’s what I have the opportunity to do here.”
On having respect for his opponent:
“It’s interesting having respect for my opponent where all the other ones we were talking trash to each other. But it’s super cool. He was my idol growing up and it’s a good change of pace. I have nothing but love for him, but I’m going to knock him out respectfully.”
On the improvements he’s made in camp:
“It’s about getting those 10,000 reps in to become a master. And so the technique is continuing to improve. Bringing my hips and my legs into the punches more and more. Even just growing my stamina to throw more punches. It’s been a constant evolution and my power has increased dramatically, which is scary for Anderson.
“So many things are clicking with it being my third year of being a professional boxer. I’ve improved drastically and exponentially. People are going to see a different fighter in the ring. I think people are going to be shocked. It’s been amazing and we’ve really caught a stride and a rhythm with the training camp this year.”
On his diet in camp:
“Breakfast is just an omelet with just one piece of toast. Sometimes I’ll skip lunch. I’m not really a big lunch person. It makes me tired and that makes me drop in weight. I’ll usually have a snack and some fruit and the snack is a high in fiber protein bar. Dinner is chicken or steak with quinoa, or quinoa with fish. Not a lot of carbs. So it’s been a really tough diet coming down to 187 but we’re wanting to do it the right way. Where I can wake up the morning of the weigh-in and have pasta if I want to. I could get to 175 next week if I wanted to do an MMA style weight-cut. But we cut the weight ahead of time so I never have to sit in the sauna and steam room and I’ll actually be the same weight.”
On his daily routine in training camp:
“Lots of sleep. I usually wake up around 1 p.m. We train a lot at night. We spar at night. We try to mimic fight night. Waking up and doing some kind of workout at night if I’m not sparring at night. That could be mitts, shadow boxing and then after that we do abs and we’ll go for a jog or weight training. Then it’s recovery and I have a stretch therapist. Then I go into a red-light bed. Then I come home, drink protein and then I go into the ice bath, then hot tub and back to ice bath. That usually recharges me right away.”
On sparring former world champion Chad Dawson in training camp:
“Chad Dawson raises my level of competition significantly. He pushes me to the next level and he makes me have to fight at my best. That’s what’s needed. If I can be in there with Chad Dawson, then I can beat Anderson Silva. I’m super excited for October 29 to go out there and show my speed.”
On his favorite part of training:
“I like the outdoor runs and jogs where my body just feels so good. I get into a rhythm. The music is playing, the sun is beating down and it feels like I’m in a boxing movie. The jogs are my favorite part for sure.”
BJ FLORES
On the daily routine in training camp:
“We schedule everything around the fight. On fight night, Jake probably won’t get into the ring until about 9:45, 10 p.m. We try to do everything on his fight night routine. We want him awake. We want him alert at night time. I don’t feel like there’s any real value in getting him up early and running at the crack of dawn. He’s a night owl. Plus, as long as we get the work done every single day, I just feel like the time of when you get the work done doesn’t matter. We want to do everything like a fight simulation.”
On the challenge of facing Anderson Silva:
“Anderson is a guy we’ve had our eye on for a long time. Anderson is a legend. He’s one of the greatest strikers of all time in any combat sport. We’ve taken it very seriously. He’s a very, very difficult challenge. It’s a massive step-up for Jake. It’s a very dangerous fight.
“The way that we attack Silva is obviously different to how we were preparing to attack Rahman. Rahman had more boxing experience. But not more fighting experience, not even close. So the way that we strategized and the way that we attack Anderson on fight night is going to be way different than it would have been for Rahman.”
On sparring in training camp:
“We’ve had Richard vanSiclen, who is 13-0. We’ve had Chad Dawson, who’s a former world champion. We’ve had Steve Cunningham and a lot of good guys in camp boxing with Jake who are very good southpaws. Southpaws who have been around for a long time just to give Jake that look over and over again and make sure he’s comfortable when he gets in the ring.
On the addition of co-trainer Danny Smith:
“We’ve added somebody very new to the team, Danny Smith. He was my trainer when I was boxing professionally. He’s one of the best trainers that I know. He’s one of my favorite people. Smart, intelligent guy who has been around boxing a long time. He’s somebody who taught me a lot about the game. He’s been very good for the strength and conditioning of Jake. He’s made Jake a better athlete as far as getting him stronger and faster. He’s excellent on the mitts. He’s been a great addition to the team.”
On the improvements Paul has made in training camp:
“Jake’s improvement since I first started working with him has just been incredible. The kid is just a nonstop worker. He’s a tireless worker. He’s very determined. He’s very goal-oriented. He’s very big on manifestation. Speaking what he wants into existence and actually going out and putting in the work to do it every single day.
“I would compare him when he fought AnEsonGib to a kid who just started learning how to ride a bike with training wheels on. After the Nate Robinson fight, he still had them on. After the Ben Askren fight, he was just slowly going along. Now he’s doing pretty good. He’s really improved a lot. He’s raised his boxing IQ. He’s really understanding the sport of boxing and taking it really seriously. It’s been almost three years of film study and reviewing every single sparring session that he does and talking about what he does well and what he needs to improve on and where he can get better. Over the last year, he’s sparred an extra 250 rounds with at least 50 different sparring partners. Good professionals. All of that just makes him a lot better.
“It’s an unbelievable amount of progress that he’s had over the last 12 to 18 months. It’s really impossible for anybody really to know how good Jake is and how he’s doing right now because he’s gotten so much better since last year that it’s impossible to handicap that. It’s impossible for any experts to know except those that are in camp with him. It’s been fun to watch.”
On the final days of training camp and fight week:
“We sparred twice the week before fight week. He’s in such good shape right now. We’re not doing as many rounds but we’re keeping him sharp. Keeping him firing on all the right levels. The main thing now is just making weight. 187 pounds. He’s already close. We’ve got a routine where days that he’s not sparring, we’re working on things in the gym. We’re making a conscious effort to get the weight down. Incline walk, sprints. We’ve been doing distance runs for 12 weeks. He’s in phenomenal shape right now. He’s prepared to go the eight rounds no problem but we’re also very realistic that this fight might not go eight rounds.
“We travel to Phoenix on Sunday. We’ll shake out on Monday. We’ll spar one final time on Tuesday. He likes to spar the week of the fight. And then after that, we have an open workout Wednesday, a final press conference on Thursday and a weigh-in on Friday. He’ll be ready to go.”
