Jake Paul outpoints former UFC champion Tyron Woodley despite big fourth round scare
- The 24-year-old ‘Problem Child’ survives fourth-round scare to win eight-round bout
- ‘If you get the [I love Jake Paul] tattoo, let’s run it back’ says Paul as the pair shake hands over rematch
YouTuber Jake Paul (4-0) defeated former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley (0-1, professional MMA record 19-7-1) via split decision (77-75, 75-77, 78-74) in a feisty cruiserweight bout on Monday.
The 24-year-old continues to go undefeated in his professional boxing career after knocking out former UFC fighter and Woodley training partner Ben Askren, former NBA player Nate Robinson and fellow YouTuber Ali Eson Gib over the last two years.
Despite being badly rocked by an overhand right in the fourth round, Paul had the higher output throughout the bout and landed a few clean shots of his own to clinch the win.
“[Woodley] is a tough opponent, he’s been fighting for 20 something years, I’ve been doing this for three years. This one’s for my city, Cleveland. It was a tougher fight than I expected, my legs felt weird since the locker room. All respect to Tyron, he’s a hall-of-famer, he came in shape, there was a lot of [expletive] talk back and forth. My apologies to his team if anyone felt disrespected,” Paul said, adding that he was “100 per cent” surprised that one of the judges gave the fight to Woodley.
Debut boxer Woodley, 39, called for an immediate rematch claiming he won the fight having had Paul on the ropes in round four. The pair appeared to shake hands over a rematch after “The Chosen One” agreed he would get an “I love Jake Paul” tattoo post-fight.