Jake Paul explains why he lost $30million ahead of Mike Tyson boxing fight

Jake Paul lost a vast amount of money in the wake of the controversy around his brother Logan Paul's 'suicide forest' video in 2018 and ended up turning to boxing

Jake Paul took up boxing to turn around his life after losing huge amounts of money and having suicidal thoughts in the wake of the scandal around his brother’s ‘suicide forest’ video.

Paul is nearing his fight against Mike Tyson on November 15 at the AT&T Stadium in Texas. The bout is by far the biggest of his boxing career and will see the YouTuber and boxing legend share a $80million (£60m) pot.

The 27-year-old has a 10-1 record in boxing with his only defeat coming on points against Tommy Fury in 2023. He took up the sport in 2020 following a chaotic drinks and drug-filled period of his life which came out of the controversy involving his brother Logan.

Back in early 2018, Logan Paul found himself at the centre of a furore after filming a suicide victim in a forest in Japan and putting the footage on YouTube. The backlash caught up Jake as well as Logan and turned his life upside down.

“I got lumped into all my brother’s hate,” he told the Hollywood Reporter. “It was like, ‘F*** the Pauls. F*** both of those people.’ It was bad. The suicide forest thing basically ruined my career and income. I lost probably $30million (£23m) in deals. There was one $15million deal for retail products that fell apart. They were able to get out of it because of a morality clause.”

Paul ended up spiralling out of control, drinking too much and taking drugs in Los Angeles and says he eventually considered taking his own life. “I had a plan. I mean, it’s f***ing crazy,” he said. “I was going to put a bunch of gas cans in my Lamborghini and get really drunk and drive off the top of this cliff in Calabasas. It’s called Stunt Road.”

He decided not to go through with the plan. “I was not going to let them win,” he added. “I was like, ‘I’m going to fight. This is what every social media hater wants is to wake up and see Jake Paul killed himself’.”

Paul now stands on the brink of the much-anticipated fight against the 58-year-old Tyson. He’s been criticised for arranging the fight, but has dismissed those saying it’s only for money. “Making history,” he said in a recent press conference. “This is what it's all about for me, man. I'm a kid from Ohio.

"They'll never give me credit. That's the way it is. If I was walking on water, they would say it's because I couldn't swim. And this is to make history. The people think I'm going to get knocked out by this strong, powerful guy.

“All the people in my comments say, ‘look at his power. He's going to get KO’d.’This has taken a chance to fight somebody as vicious as Mike can be. You got to risk it for the biscuit. That's the name of the game. I'm here to make history. I'm here for a challenge. I'm here to fight one of the most dangerous men in all of boxing.”