With a crowd slowly turning on him, Jake Paul dug deep and knocked Tyron Woodley into another dimension to go 2-0 against the former UFC champion.
Inside the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Paul landed a big right hook in the sixth round that put Woodley down for the count. The win was the third one of 2021 for Paul, who battled through adversity for the first time in his young career.
“It was a tough fight. The blood was getting in my eye from when he elbowed me," Paul stated. "I got the job done and I knew it would happen like that. I was setting up the shot the whole fight and he didn’t see it coming.
“This has to be the greatest moment of my life. Look at what I just did. Look at the year I just had. Unprecedented. One of the most valuable boxers in this sport. Four fights. Four massive pay-per-views in 13 months. I’ve knocked out every single person that I’ve fought. Every single person that I’ve fought.”
From the start of the fight, Paul had the crowd in the palm of his hands. It started when he entered the arena with 18,685 singing along to the YMCA. While he lost the crowd towards the middle, he won them back in the end.
Woodley was the aggressor to start the fight, going for the overhand knockout blow early. He tried with hooks but missed as Paul was moving around. Paul landed a body shot and hooks, but Woodley would hold onto him to halt his momentum, a major theme of the night. Paul landed combination shots in the second and a big right to the face of Woodley. The crowd was getting restless early thanks to clinching.
.@jakepaul stuns Woodley in round 2 --
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) December 19, 2021
Order Now: https://t.co/K8evGXftD4 pic.twitter.com/odwMwUifRw
A key point in the fight began in the third as Paul was bleeding following an accidental elbow to the forehead. Woodley landed an overhand as Paul tried getting the blood out of his face. The former was fired up as he would reach and land multiple combinations.
Paul fought back and landed a few uppercuts. Woodley took Paul to the floor with a takedown, and the crowd was not having it. Jake fired back with combinations and would continue doing so in round five. Woodley held onto Paul once again and Paul tried doing the same.
While it looked like Woodley would make a comeback, Paul would not go down easily. Woodley did hit a big hook in the sixth, but Paul recovered with a one-two combination. He then landed an overhand hook as Woodley ducked down and the latter could not block it. He ended up face first on the mat as the crowd, who was cursing out Paul in the middle of the fight, was silent.
.@jakepaul JUST PUT THE WOOD IN WOODLEY --
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) December 19, 2021
He scores the KO win in the 6th round to stay unbeaten --#PaulWoodley pic.twitter.com/kxr4rG0SNB
“This is as real as it gets, just like my right hand," Paul went on to say.
According to CompuBox, Paul and Woodley both landed 43 shots, with 25 of Paul's hits being power shots. Woodley has now lost six fights in a row, combining his MMA and boxing losses.
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