JAKE PAUL is punching so hard in training to fight Mike Perry that sparring partners have been sent packing.
The YouTuber-turned-prizefighter returns over the weekend in Florida against former UFC star and now bare-knuckle boxer Perry.
Paul was initially set face Mike Tyson on the same date but in Texas – until the heavyweight icon pulled out amid a health precaution.
The controversial clash – scrutinised for the 30-year age gap between them – has since been postponed to November 15.
But Paul – who last fought in March – decided to roll the dice and remain in the ring to keep his lucrative boxing career moving.
It meant switching around his sparring partners having assembled a team of shorter heavyweights to replicate 58-year-old Iron Mike.
So Paul quickly called on an old friend and secret weapon ahead of his bout against Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship’s Perry.
Brit Jake Bostwick – a bare-knuckle boxer himself – has been a regular in Paul’s previous training camps.
So when the opponent was switched to Perry it was a no-brainer to get Bostwick over to the Puerto Rico training base.
And Bostwick revealed it has been survival of the fittest in camp – but one he stood the test of time for.
“I come in because I give them good work. And honestly, I can survive,” he told SunSport.
“Anyone else that comes out at the spar normally gets sent home with injuries or they just can’t hang. Real talk it really is like that.
“Even a few days ago everyone else got sent home and it was just me and coaches like JLeon are like, ‘Jake bro, it’s always you that’s left.’
“I was like, I’m soldiering on son.”
Paul’s assistant coach J’Leon Love – a former 25–3–1 boxer – was the one who invited Bostwick back into camp.
And Love along with head trainer Theo Chambers are the ones deciding which paid sparring partners stay or go.
Bostwick revealed: “The coaches are sending people home if they’re not performing or they’re getting pieced up, they get sent home.
“So you gotta be able to take some shots, give some shots and still give them a look, you know? And like I said, Jake’s never easy sparring.
“And he’s firing on all cylinders, 16oz gloves, headgear or not it’s still a problem.”
Bostwick, 34, was first recruited by Paul before the American knocked out former MMA champion Ben Askren, 39, in 2021.
The coaches are sending people home if they’re not performing or they’re getting pieced up, they get sent home.
Jake Paul's sparring partner Jake Bostwick
The same year, they also sparred before Paul’s pair of wins over ex-UFC champ Tyron Woodley, 42, on points and then KO.
Around the same time, Perry, 32, also sparred Paul, 27, in a session that has been widely disputed in the lead up to their boxing bout.
But Bostwick insisted Perry is in for a rude awakening if he is banking on Paul being the same boxer than he was all those years ago.
He said: “His power is crazy, bro.
“Every time we spar, I’m just like, I hope you don’t catch me with something, he does punch hard, he really, really does.
“He’s definitely got significantly better, his movement, everything’s way better.
“And I think even Perry sparred with him back in the day around the Ben Askren time.
“That’s when he moved with him as well. So for Perry to remember that, and then to see how he is now, I think that’s gonna be a bit of a shocker.”
Bostwick has travelled with Paul’s team to Tampa ahead of the scheduled eight-round fight – but does not expect the final bell to sound.
He predicted: “I honestly think Jake can stop Perry within, like, four or five rounds.
“Stop him. Either knockout to the head, to the body, but I think he could for sure hurt him and get a stoppage. I genuinely believe that.”
