Jake Paul responds to Firas Zahabi’s PED accusation; hasn’t been tested ahead of Woodley bout
CLEVELAND – Jake Paul has yet to be drug tested ahead of Sunday’s boxing match with Tyron Woodley, but he’s adamant he’s not on any banned substances.
The narrative around Paul potentially being on performance-enhancing drugs came to life when noted coach Firas Zahabi claimed on one of his YouTube videos that the YouTuber and former Disney kid actor was cheating going into the bout, whereas Woodley is not.
“I definitely think Jake Paul’s gonna be on PEDs,” Zahabi said. “It exists in the world of boxing just like it exists in MMA, and I don’t think Tyron will be on PEDs. I think Tyron will be totally natural. Does it make a difference? It absolutely does.”
Paul addressed the accusation for the first time on Thursday and said he was caught off guard when his manager brought it to his attention.
“My manager sent me that the morning it came out like, ‘Hey, by the way, Georges St-Pierre’s coach said you’re on PEDs,'” Paul told MMA Junkie. “So I swiped up my phone – this is a true story on my mom’s life, she’s looking me in my eyes (right now) – I swipe up my phone, click Safari and type in, ‘What’s PEDs?’ Then I see it says performance-enhancing drugs. I texted my manager back, ‘Good thing I had to Google what PEDs are.’ But I look at it as a compliment. People are trying to do anything they can to discredit me and take away from this journey. They’re already making excuses for him when he loses.
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“This is a real fight. This isn’t the exhibition sh*t that my brother (Logan Paul) and Floyd (Mayweather) did. This isn’t exhibition sh*t. I do real pro fights with a commission who is drug testing me. These claims are stupid and of course (Zahabi is) doing it to get clout. Look at it, four weeks later it’s still getting brought up in interviews. His name gets mentioned. He gets some clout and he’s a happy little wanker jerking off to these videos somewhere all excited about the clout he’s getting.”
When pressed on the topic of PEDs, Paul admitted Ohio State Athletic Commission has yet to test him at all during training camp ahead of the 190-pound bout, which takes place at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse and airs on Showtime pay-per-view.
However, Paul said he welcomes testing at any time and assured there would be no issues if his blood or urine was taken for testing at any point.
“Not yet. I think that happens the day of the fight or the day before the fight. But test me whenever.”
