Jake Paul went the distance for the first time in his young pro boxing career, winning an eight-round split decision over former UFC champion Tyron Woodley in Cleveland.
Scores were 77-75 and 78-74 for Paul, with one judge seeing it 77-75 for Woodley, which was by far the most puzzling card. Bad Left Hook had it 77-75 for Paul, and while that is a close score, it’s really hard to figure where five rounds for Woodley would come from. Three seems like the most you can really say he won in the fight.
Paul (4-0, 3 KO) did get rocked a little bit in the fourth round, and certainly showed fatigue as the fight wore on, but Woodley (0-1 in boxing) just didn’t have enough output, didn’t throw enough, and despite walking Paul down consistently, didn’t take the momentum often enough.
Paul certainly didn’t overpower Woodley the way he did his first three opponents, but he landed more and boxed pretty well off the back foot given his experience level.
“I don’t know what to say, but he’s a tough opponent. He’s been boxing, fighting, striking, whatever you want to call it, for twentysomething years. I’ve been doing this for three years,” Paul said. “This was tougher than I expected. My legs felt weird in the locker room, I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but he’s a tough opponent. He’s a great fighter, a Hall of Famer, he came in shape. I have nothing but respect for him, and my apologies to his team if anyone felt disrespected.”
.@TWooodley tags Paul in round 4 😳#PaulWoodley pic.twitter.com/8j9Gnh9jJD
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) August 30, 2021
