Ahead of his highly anticipated fight with Mike Tyson, Jake Paul is drawing inspiration from quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
Paul, 27, exclusively tells PEOPLE that he strongly admires the Chiefs star’s work ethic and ability to win.
“It’s cliché, but there’s a reason he’s the best,” says Paul of the 29-year-old Kansas City quarterback. “He continues to win and continues to show up and be a leader.”
The social media star-turned-boxer — whose brand W added LSU gymnast Olivia Dunne as a co-owner last month — says Mahomes is a great example of the type of athletes he wants to surround himself with.
“He really never has off days and his focus is something that I admire,” Paul adds of Mahomes.
As he prepares for his contest with 58-year-old Tyson — streaming live on Netflix on Friday, Nov. 15 at 8 p.m. ET — Paul says it’s athletes like Mahomes that motivate him to put in the hard work and believe in his process.
“I believe there’s a lot more talented people out there than me, and naturally gifted or whatever, but my key to success is hard work and outworking them on a daily basis,” says Paul.
Paul tells PEOPLE he’s feeling “great” ahead of the match with Tyson, who told reporters he’s prepared to “come out as the devil himself” when he meets the former YouTube star in the ring at AT&T Stadium in in Arlington, Texas.
“My sparring partners are basically mimicking exactly how Mike Tyson moves, which has been super, super helpful because he has a unique fighting style,” Paul explains, adding that he’s been “able to get a feel for what it’s going to be like to fight” Tyson.
“And I think it’s going to be a great night for me,” Paul predicts.
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The Cleveland, Ohio native made his white-collar boxing debut in 2018 against YouTuber Deji Olatunji. He won the match via technical knockout in the fifth round. He won his first professional boxing match the same way, with a technical knockout in the first round of the 2020 fight against YouTuber AnEsonGib.
Heading into his fight with Tyson, Paul’s record stands at 10-1, with his only loss coming from Tommy Fury.
Paul tells PEOPLE he was “devastated” after losing to Fury, 25, in February 2023. However, Paul admits, “It turned out to be the best thing for me because I saw the people around me that weren’t there for the right reasons, and was able to filter them out.”
The boxer says he turned his focus to training after the defeat — and now he’s confident the results will help him when he takes on Tyson.
“I think a lot of people would react to the loss and be like, ‘Oh, maybe I’m done with this. Maybe this isn’t for me,’ ” he explains. “But it’s like, no, let’s lean in even more because I did great, and focus on the positive, bring in a different team and surround myself with better people and take the sport even more seriously.”
