By Matt Lieberman: Cruiserweight Jake Paul (5-0, 4 KOs) scored a one-punch sixth round knockout over winless Tyron Woodley (0-2) on Saturday night in their rematch on Showtime PPV at the Amalie Arena in Tampa Bay, Florida.
The 41-year-old Woodley was getting the better of a very, very crude-looking Jake through five rounds. If not for Jake’s formidable punching power, he might have lost tonight.
However, in the sixth round, disaster struck for the former MMA champion when he walked into a big right hand from the 24-year-old Jake Paul that knocked him out cold, sending him down face first on the canvas.
Referee Chris Young then halted the fight at 2:12 of the sixth. Hopefully, this win for Jake closes the chapter on his rivalry with Woodley, who came into the fight on two weeks’ notice.
This wasn’t a great performance by Jake, as he spent much of the fight clinching and wrestling with Woodley. Luckily for Jake, his world-class power bailed him out.
Paul vs. Woodley 2 undercard results
In lightweight action, Amanda Serrano (42-1-1, 30 KOs) dominated Mariam Gutierrez (13-2, 5 KOs) in winning a lopsided 10 round unanimous. The judges scored it 99-90, 99-91, and 100-90. Boxing News 24 scored it for the 33-year-old Serrano by a 100-90 score.
Light welterweight Liam Paro (22-0, 13 KOs) edged Yomar Alamo (20-1-1, 12 KOs) by a 10 round split decision. The scores were 96-93, 95-94 for Paro, and 95-94 for Alamo. Paro was knocked down in the first by Alamo.
Former NBA player Deron Williams defeated former NFL running back Frank Gore by a four round split decision. The judges’ scores were 38-37, 40-35 for Williams, and 38-37 for Gore. In the third round, Deron dropped Gore.
Preview:
The YouTuber Jake Paul says he wants to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Canelo Alvarez, but if he can’t beat the 41-year-old Woodley conclusively tonight, he might as well not waste his breath talking up fights against those guys.
The 24-year-old ‘Problem Child’ Jake Paul (4-0, 3 KOs) edged ‘The Chosen One’ Woodley (0-1) by a questionable eight round split decision last August in Cleveland, Ohio.
Jake had planned on fighting Tommy Fury, but after he pulled out of the fight, he turned his attention back towards the former UFC champion Woodley for a rematch.
Jake vs. Woodley 2 undercard action
Liam Paro vs. Yomar Alamo
Amanda Serrano vs. Miriam Gutierrez
J’Leon Love vs. Marcus Oliveira
Anthony Taylor vs. Chris Avila
Jeovanny Estela vs. Chris Rollins
Paul feels pressure to KO Woodley
“Everything I’m doing inside and outside of the ring, it’s hard to deny that and everything I’m doing. It’s not just from the pay-per-view draws,” said Jake Paul to iFL TV.
“It’s from my movement and the story I’m creating and what I’m fighting for,” said Jake. “100%, it’s a must,” said Paul when asked if he has to knockout Woodley for him to win tonight.
“I think if it goes eight rounds, people lose a lot of interest in the excitement that I’m building, so I have to knock him out.
“I love that pressure, and I’m going to go in and do it because I know I can,” Paul said.
Considering that Jake never came close to knocking out Woodley last August in his eight round split decision in Cleveland, Ohio, it’s not likely he’s going to score a stoppage tonight.
Jake targeting Canelo & Mayweather in future
Paul would like to fight Canelo Alvarez and Floyd Mayweather Jr. in the future within two to four years. The chances of those fights happening are slim.
With Mayweather, 44, you can’t rule out him agreeing to a fight against Jake, but not Canelo. He’s got too many options at this point for him to sink to the level of fighting a YouTuber like Jake Paul.
“I think they think it’s a joke and that I’m just doing it for attention,” said Jake Paul when asked what he thinks boxing fans picture in their minds when they hear him calling out Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Canelo Alvarez.
“I’m dead serious that I will fight those people [Canelo and Mayweather], and I know I’ll beat them. That’s the funny thing. If we were to fight right now, it wouldn’t be that good of a fight, but we’re not fighting right now. We’re fighting in three years, two years or four years maybe,” said Jake.
“So by then, I’ll have more fights under my belt, more experience, more training camps and I get exponentially better and I work just as hard if not harder than them because I’m more hungry.
“It’s serious and I know it’ll happen. I do, I do intend to do that,” Jake Paul said when asked if he intends on fighting a professional boxer next year.
Paul wants to fight a REAL boxer in 2022
“We’ll see who is on that list, but I want to fight a professional boxer and I have,” said Paul about wanting to fight a professional boxer in 2022. That’s all I’ve done in sparring. I guess the reason why I don’t necessarily have to because I do it all the time in sparring with world champions, and I go toe-to-toe with them.
“I’m going to do it because I know I can, and I know I’ll beat these guys.
Paul wants to show improvement tonight
Considering that the opposition that Jake had fought prior to his last fight against Woodley was woefully over-matched guys that he bowed over, it’s going to be tough for him to show enough improvement to be taken seriously by top-level boxers.
“I don’t really give a s***,” said Paul when asked about his thoughts on the comments made by John Fury. “I think he’s an entertaining man. He’s a little bit cringe, but it is what it is. It’s all entertaining, so bring it on.
“Tyson Fury has a loudmouth, and his dad has a loudmouth, but they couldn’t back it up, so I label them all b****es. If nobody cares about me, then why are you talking about me?” said Jake about Tyson Fury’s recent negative comment made about him. “It’s as simple as that.
“Man, be a part of the story, be a part of the movement,” said Paul in sending a message to fans in encouraging them to watch tonight against Woodley. “I’m going to go in there and you’re going to see a different fighter.
“I’m going to put on a better show this time. I 100% promise you that, and I’m going to knock him out. You don’t want to be one of the ones that are NOT watching this fight because you’re going to miss that highlight-reel knockout.
“I’ll see you all there because there’s a bunch of entertainment going on on the undercard,” said Jake. “I can go on for days on why they should be there.”
Jake Paul and Tyron Woodley will be doing it a regain in meeting in a rematch scheduled for eight rounds tonight in the main event on Showtime PPV at the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. The contest will take place in the cruiserweight division.
Jake has got to look better tonight than he did in his last fight against the former MMA star Woodley if he wants to be taken seriously by the top boxers that he’s vying to share the ring with.