Jake Paul at Wembley Stadium, London. Picture date: Saturday July 19, 2025. (Photo by Bradley Collyer/PA Images via Getty Images)
PA Images via Getty Images
Jake Paul is fed up with high-profile critics—especially the ones who question the legitimacy of his boxing matches. No one understands the influencer world better than Paul and he’s trying to head off negative accusations before they become widespread public perception.
Following a steady stream of accusations that his fights are rigged, Paul has hired powerhouse attorney Alex Spiro to pursue legal action.
Spiro is best known for defending names like Elon Musk, Jay-Z, Alec Baldwin, and Naomi Osaka, and now he’s representing Paul—and he’s drawn a line in the sand for critics who attack his client with baseless accusations.
“I’ve been retained by Mr. Paul to pursue legal redress for the damages he has suffered,” Spiro said in a statement posted by the Daily Mail. “If someone uses their public soapbox to harm him and the sport with lies, there will be consequences.”
Paul also made his stance clear on social media. You can take a look here:
The legal action comes after a string of public challenges to Paul’s legitimacy as a boxer. Most recently, media personalities like Piers Morgan and former NFL player Adam “Pacman” Jones floated the idea that Paul’s biggest fights—especially his bout with Mike Tyson, watched by over 108 million people on Netflix—may have been staged.
Jones even claimed Tyson appeared to tell Paul to “slow down” after landing punches early in the fight. That kind of public speculation, Paul’s team says, is more than just noise—it’s defamation with real consequences for ongoing brand deals, broadcast partnerships, and long-term credibility in the sport.
Anytime there is widespread speculation about pre-determined or altered results in a sporting event, it is cause for major concern by those with stakes in the integrity of the sport. If there is rampant concern about the legitimacy of the results, Paul and his team are right—boxing and sports will be dealt a serious blow.
To reinforce that point, Bidarian, who was a guest on The Ariel Helwani Show, took critics like Morgan and Jones to task. “When you definitively state that Jake is putting on staged or rigged fights, that’s just defamation,” Bidarian said. “You’re causing substantial damage to his business, to MVP’s business, and it’s something that’s 100 percent not true.”
It seems clear the questions have reached a point where Paul and MVP can no longer brush them aside.
Bidarian says that the questions around fight legitimacy have forced the team to hold difficult conversations with major brand partners like DAZN, Netflix, and Celsius. “Our legal representation is looking at multiple individuals to go after,” he warned, indicating this won’t be an isolated action.
Spiro’s presence takes the situation to another level. Known for representing some of the most recognizable figures in sports and entertainment, his reputation is built on high-stakes courtroom wins. He has helped Baldwin, Jay-Z, Musk, and Osaka overcome legal challenges that carried both public scrutiny and real consequences.
Whether it’s handling high-profile defamation claims or navigating complex reputational attacks, Spiro’s track record makes it clear—if he’s involved, the matter is serious. By bringing him in, Paul isn’t just protecting his name—he’s signaling that the stakes around his brand, partnerships, and fights are bigger than ever.
As his profile continues to grow—and with another major fight potentially on the horizon with former heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua—Paul is choosing to go on offense legally rather than continue absorbing criticism passively.
Matchroom, DAZN and even boxing powerbroker Turki Alalshikh likely want nothing to do with fights or fighters that create questions about rigged results. That label is bad for business across all industries.
The message Paul is sending here is: don’t casually accuse me of something as serious as rigging fights unless you can and are willing to prove it in court.
