Popular YouTuber Jake Paul 4-0 (3) overcame a late scare to outpoint former UFC champion Tyron Woodley 0-1 in their eight round fight at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio on Sunday night.
The fight was a snoozefest through the first four rounds with neither boxer landing blows in the double digits.
The 24-year-old Paul was content to circle the ring and throw the occasional jab and right hand while Woodley, 39, made vague attempts to close the distance.
The 16,000-strong crowd voiced their displeasure at the lack of action but even that failed to encourage the fighters to engage.
Fighting at cruiserweight with both boxers around the 190-pound mark, there was a noticeable size difference between the six-foot tall Paul and the five-foot-nine Woodley, who reigned as the UFC welterweight champion at 170-pounds five years ago.
Woodley eventually landed an overhand right that Paul flying backwards into the ropes. It could have easily been ruled a knockdown.
After eight rounds the judges ruled the fight a split decision with scores of 78-74 and 77-75 for Paul and 77-75 for Woodley.
“He’s a tough opponent,” Paul said after the fight.
“He’s been boxing, fighting, whatever you wanna call it, for several years. I’ve been doing this for three years.
“It was a tougher fight than I expected. My legs felt weird in the locker room. I don’t know what was wrong with me, but he’s a tough opponent.
“All respect to Tyron. You know, he’s a Hall of Famer. He put up a good fight. He’s a good boxer. He came in shape. I have nothing but respect for him. There was a lot of shit talk back and forth.”
CompuBox had Paul landing 71 or 207 punches in the fight. They recorded 52 of 163 scoring punches for Woodley.
“I feel like I won the fight,” Woodley said. “I feel like Jake’s a great opponent. I didn’t expect him to go down. That’s why I came in great shape, because I knew he could take a punch.
“But the fact that one judge gave me two rounds is laughable. No disrespect, but fuck the [Tommy] Fury fight. We need to run that back. Me and Jake need to run that back.”
“Honestly, we’ll see,” Paul said. “I’ve been boxing for 18 months now. I haven’t been to the dentist and I have barely gotten my haircut for like two years.
“My teeth are crooked and my nose is crooked. I may need to take some time off and figure out who I am. I’m only 24 years old. We will see.”
Logan Paul praised his younger brother for his performance.
“In my opinion, we got the Jake Paul people didn’t know existed,” Logan Paul said. “We saw him face adversity for the first time in his career.
“Tyron Woodley is an animal and the fact that my brother could secure a victory after taking a big shot, it’s huge. I have so much love for this kid.”
