Jake Paul and Ryan Garcia admit “faking beef” to “stir things up”

Hunter Haas
Jake Paul and Ryan Garcia admitted to “faking beef” to “stir things up” in the boxing world

The always-polarizing boxing star Ryan Garcia explained why his beef with Jake Paul isn’t what it seems on the surface.

Garcia started the May 16 episode of BS w/ Jake Paul freestyle rapping before brutally trash-talking Paul’s co-host Jasper for much of the 62-minute episode.

UFC champion Sean O’Malley even made a cameo after Garcia sent him a selfie earlier in the podcast. ‘Suga Sean’ called in via FaceTime, and the two engaged in a spirited back and forth.

Paul, totally amused by Garcia, could not contain his laughter several times throughout the episode, which led to the question: Why are they so friendly if they were recently beefing?

“Uh, we pretend beef,” Garcia revealed with a laugh before Paul chimed in: “Yeah, we text each other like, ‘Let’s stir some s**t up.’”

“Nah, I deadass did,” ‘King Ryan’ claimed. “I mean, sometimes we would actually [argue] like brothers.”

That final comment opened the door for a potential Garcia vs Paul fight to be discussed, with both men agreeing to do it — on one condition.

After Garcia said that he would only accept the fight depending on the “bag,” the talk of a Netflix match came up, much like the one Paul will have with Mike Tyson on July 20.

“Then, we gotta do what we gotta do,” Garcia said while dapping up Paul. “Yeah, we gotta turn it up,” ‘The Problem Child’ agreed.

Their “fake beef” dates back three years, when the two came face-to-face in a video that looked anything but fake. Garcia quips that Paul “isn’t a professional fighter” multiple times.

Another example of the alleged faux beef came earlier in 2024 when Garcia called out Paul for a fight, claiming the social media star was “disrespecting his sport.”

But Paul has gotten his own shots in by shooting down Garcia’s previous callout for a boxing match, saying he’s a “better boxer” than the former interim WBC champion.

For now, the two have seemingly buried the hatchet. But given the nature of their prior altercations, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the “fake beef” turn into the real thing.

Whether or not Paul reigns supreme against Tyson, the prospects of a mega fight with Garcia, a 25-1 professional boxer, would be pretty enticing.

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