December 19, (THEWILL) – In a rematch against Tyron Woodley, Jake Paul, who won their initial fight with an upsetting split decision in August, got the stoppage he desired on Saturday night at the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida, when he dropped the former UFC welterweight champion in the sixth round of their cruiserweight bout.
The knockout blow was a clinical, crisp right hand that knocked Woodley to the canvas.
The highlight finish came as a bit of a surprise, since the fight had been largely devoid of thrilling boxing action up until that point, with both combatants wary of throwing combinations and getting caught up in the clinch.
The 24-year-old Paul improves to a professional record of five wins in five fights in his boxing career with four of those ending in knockouts. On December 6, he was supposed to fight Tommy Fury, but the latter withdrew due to medical concerns. Woodley stepped up immediately for a rematch, but he was unable to take advantage of the opportunity, having prepared for only two weeks.
Before bragging about his achievements, Paul took time after the fight to thank Woodley for agreeing to fight him again. Then, the boasting began:
“Look at what I just did, look at the year I just had. Unprecedented, one of the most valuable boxers in the sport. Four fights, four massive pay-per-views in 13 months. I’ve knocked out every single person that I fought.”
Fans who had hoped for greater thrills than in the first encounter needed to exercise a lot of patience. Apart from the knockout, the fight was an unenthusiastic affair.
Paul was ready to try for the clinch after landing his jab, while Woodley struggled to fire from a low, wide posture. In the second round, Paul landed a hard right, but it was not enough to rouse a crowd that had booed the fighters twice in the first few minutes of the bout.
The tempo did not shift until the fifth round, when Paul finally earned his highlight-reel moment due to a defensive blunder by Woodley.
Paul crouched and loaded his right hand. His timing needed to be impeccable and it was, as he delivered the punch immediately as Woodley let go of his left hand, exposing his chin entirely. The battering ram of the punch slammed through, causing immediate damage. Woodley was knocked out cold and Paul cemented his status as a legitimate fighter.
With the defeat of Woodley under his belt, Paul will feel compelled to fight a professional boxer once more. That was going to be Fury, but it is uncertain whether or not that will happen now, after Fury pulled out of the December 6 scheduled bout.
In his post-fight interview, Paul turned his attention to future opponents, singling out two UFC fighters. He specifically mentioned Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz, indicating he would fight any or both of them if their UFC contracts let’s them accept his challenge.
Both Diaz and Masvidal were there at the bout on Saturday. But, Diaz had revealed in an interview that he was not interested in the main event and was instead there to support a friend, Ariel Helwani who was fighting on the undercard.
Either fighter would be an intriguing opponent, but Paul would almost certainly encounter further criticism for taking on another mixed martial artist.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
