On Sunday night Jake Paul vs. Tyron Woodley gave us exactly what we thought it would.
Nothing new.
There were no lessons learned as we saw what was expected.
Jake Paul is a social media star who leveraged his popularity, bumrushed boxing, and is now, unquestionably, the prince of boxing entertainment. His PPV numbers, social media hype, and fans in attendance support that claim.
He now has credible, long-time boxing journalists and publishers covering his fights.
To top it all off, his Twitter bio now reads “the face of the fight game.”
For those angry at his rise to fame and are looking for someone to blame, look no further than boxing itself.
The politics, egos, and segmentation of boxing enabled Paul to sneak in the back door and open up the sport to new fans.
True fans of pugilism recognize Paul’s massive shortcomings as a real fighter. He’s nowhere near the level of a pro fighter let alone an amateur.
But aside from not buying his fights, dwelling in their frustration is about all that they can do.
I am one of those fans.
I haven’t and won’t purchase his fights. My love for boxing and appreciation of the sport’s true artists prevents me from doing so.
Plus, I’m not spending money on watching something that continues to be more of the same.
Last night’s 8 round fight manifests this.
In the highlights I watched, Paul’s footwork is unrefined and many times sloppy.
His punching ability and skill set are basically beginner’s level.
His true talent lies in his ability to promote the fight through his mouth, trolling skills, and massive social media influence.
To his credit, it works.
As for Tyron Woodley and his fans, his boxing debut was another frustrating night.
The split decision loss was his fifth in a row, which includes four straight UFC losses.
He was in shape (unlike Paul’s former opponent, Ben Askren) but that was for naught as Twitter ripped the former UFC champ.
They blasted his reluctance to throw punches, particularly in the first three rounds. It’s something he’s been criticized for in MMA as well.
Then in round 4, Woodley rocked Paul with an overhand right, sending him crashing into the ropes.
The chance to finish Paul off was there. Yet inexplicably, Woodley refused to take it, garnering more fire from social media.
At the end of the night, the result was obvious.
The only thing in dispute was that the split decision should have been unanimous.
Compubox showed that Woodley was outpunched and deserving of the loss.
Looking at the number of punches thrown, Woodley’s loss is more about what he refused to do versus what Paul actually did.
When you average 20 punches a round and lack the power of prime Mike Tyson, you’re setting yourself up for an “L”.
And that’s just what Woodley took.
Again, I didn’t watch the fight but I didn’t need to in order to know what would happen.
Paul would sell the fight, the arena would be packed (especially since it was in Paul’s hometown of Cleveland), they’d both make a lot of money and the next “beef” (courtesy of Tommy Fury) would erupt in order to set up the next fight.
Many are saying that Jake Paul is improving as a boxer and closing in on legitimacy.
That’s ridiculous.
MMA and boxing are two totally different sports, regardless of sharing the striking element.
Paul has yet to fight a real boxer, one with true skill. A fighter that punches and does so in large volume.
Right now he’s focusing on strikers and reaping huge profits from it. And others are jumping on board to earn off of his coattails.
I get it.
But he’s not ready for boxing.
He wants Canelo, which is a joke. Every penny he earned from that fight would go to his medical bills.
Right now Jake Paul is capitalizing on something that some fans want to see, and that’s ok.
It works for some, but not for others.
So Sunday night’s fight gave sports fans nothing new.
The only other thing I could guarantee was that the best true boxing of the night would come from seven-division champion Amanda Serrano.
Did I get that all right?
