By Brian Campbell & Brent Brookhouse Dec 19, 2021 at 11:15 am ET
Source: CBS News - Boxing
Photo: Showtime
The social media star followed through on his promise to finish his business in the rematch on Saturday night
Jake Paul's fifth foray into professional boxing created nothing but clinches and boos from the crowd in Saturday's rematch with former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley. And then the YouTube star and social media influencer delivered the boom.
Paul (5-0, 4 KOs) feinted with a jab to the body and came over the top with a flush right hand to knock Woodley out cold and set off a wild celebration inside Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. The Showtime pay-per-view contest saw the 24-year-old Paul leave no doubt in ways he didn't in August when he hung on for a split decision over Woodley in their first meeting. The cruiserweight bout was contested at a catchweight of 192 pounds and survived a late opponent switch as Woodley, 39, filled in for the injured Tommy Fury, the half brother of heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, on less than two weeks' notice.
"What now? What now? What now?" Paul screamed into the camera as his arm was raised by referee Christopher Young, who waved off the fight at 2:12 of Round 6. The finish couldn't have come at a better time for Paul as the rematch had devolved exclusively into a holding contest with low output, very similar to the worst moments of their first meeting. But as soon as Paul delivered the finishing blow, he returned back into his brash ways by jumping atop the corner turnbuckle and wildly rejoicing with older brother, and fellow influencer turned boxer, Logan Paul.
"This is as real as it f---ing gets, just like my right hand," Paul said. "I told you I was going to f--- him up."
Paul was the busier boxer throughout and led on all three scorecards (49-46, 48-46, 49-46) at the time of the stoppage. Both Paul and Woodley landed the same amount of total punches, according to CompuBox, at 43 but Paul was able to land 41% of his power punches.
Even with Paul's output, he joined Woodley in being far too willing to rely on the clinch, which slowed the action and forced the crowd into a steady set of boos. Paul overcame that, as he did the cut on his forehead in Round 4 due to an errant elbow by Woodley, to force the emphatic win. "[Woodley] is a legend, don't take anything away from his career as a UFC champion," Paul said. "He took this fight on two weeks' notice because Tommy Fury is a bitch. That's a tough guy right there [in Woodley,] he's a legend. He tried to catch the punch in front and like a lumberjack, timber."
After the bout, Paul called out UFC stars Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz, both of whom were seated ringside, and urged them to get out of their current fight deals with "Daddy Dana" White, the UFC president.
"This has to be the greatest moment in my life, look at the year I just had," Paul said. "This is unprecedented. Four huge PPVs in 12 months and I knocked out everyone I saw." Elsewhere on the card, Amanda Serrano sent quite the message to the rest of the lightweight division with a decision win over Miriam Gutierrez. Serrano, the unified champion at featherweight, left no doubt that she can compete up in weight with her sights set on undisputed queen Katie Taylor in 2022. And the crossover special between Deron Williams and Frank Gore delivered fun action over the course of four rounds. Williams walked away with the judges' nod in the exhibition that won't count as an official fight on their records.
"I used my wrestling background to my advantage," Williams said. "I just wanted to prove to myself that I could get out here and do this. Everybody that's talking on Instagram and Twitter, they wouldn't step in here in front of all these people and on PPV for their first fight. Hats off to Frank. He had a dream. He had a goal. In my mind, we're both winners tonight."
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