YouTuber and boxer Jake Paul has defended himself after he claimed a reporter misquoted him as having said Covid-19 was a ‘hoax’.

In an interview with Paul earlier this week, ahead of this weekend’s fight against Nate Robinson, The Daily Beast quoted the star as saying: "COVID cases are at less than one percent, and I think the disease is a hoax."

But Paul told The Verge: "So this guy, this reporter, he misquoted me. He took what I said out of context, and I told him that. I told him that the whole entire time.

“COVID is very real, like, it’s killed so many people. It’s killed people I know. It’s killed someone very, very close to me. So that’s what I’m saying. I don’t even know where that came from.”

Journalist Marlow Stern has hit back at the YouTube star however and tweeted the link to the audio of his interview with Paul.

He wrote: “Here's the audio of  @JakePaul telling me COVID is ‘a hoax’, that America should open back up, and comparing it to the flu.”

However, the link is not working.

Tonight, Paul has another battle, against former NBA player Robinson on the undercard for Mike Tyson v Roy Jones Jr.