The fight between undefeated YouTube star/social media
influencer turned Cruiserweight boxer Jake Paul and former two-time MMA
Welterweight world champion Tyron Woodley was as most of Paul’s previous bouts
in the Boxing ring have been, a curiosity. While this term “Curiosity” is one
that frankly is starting to become overused particularly since the influx of those
who enter the sport of Boxing from the outside began in recent years, there is
no other term that is suitable to describe it. This is because Paul has not
fought someone with Boxing experience as of yet. As such, it is the element of
the unknown in his opposition that keeps that phrase “Curiosity” appropriate.
In previewing this fight, this observer said that he was
taking the “wait and see” approach as I have done with practically every fight
that I have covered that features someone that obtained notoriety from outside
of Boxing before choosing to enter the sport. I did however, state that while
there was no dispute that the tactics of Jake and his brother Logan Paul in
terms of being able to generate interest, despite their inexperience as boxers,
that it was a roll of the dice for
United States cable network Showtime to market Jake Paul as a pay-per-view
attraction in a period of transition where the model of pay-per-view has been
in decline and has given way to digital subscription-based streaming networks
that generally offer greater value as compared to such a model. There is no
disputing however, that from a marketing standpoint, the Paul brothers have
succeeded in generating interest particularly amongst the casual fan. The
question will remain whether or not the two brothers are truly dedicated to
pursuing Boxing as a serious career and that question will remain at least
until each decides to fight legitimate boxers under legitimate Boxing contests
and not exhibitions as was the case when Logan engaged in an eight round
exhibition with Floyd Mayweather earlier this year.
For Jake Paul, he is competing in official fights, but is
doing so against fighters that are coming from the world of Mixed Martial Arts
(MMA) or against other YouTube celebrities or former athletes as was the case
in his second official fight when he scored a first round knockout of former
NBA star Nate Robinson in November of last year. Even though there is a benefit
to such promotion as it does generate interest, some may wonder whether or not
he is serious and will choose to compete against boxers in the future. Paul’s
fight against Tyron Woodley was one that I had the same question in mind that I
did when Paul fought Ben Askren earlier this year in another pay-per-view main
event that pitted the inexperienced Paul against someone making their pro debut
as a boxer following being a former world champion in the sport of MMA. While
one might argue that this is a way for Paul to test the waters and more or less
get his feet wet as a boxer by facing those that are inexperienced in terms of
competing in a Boxing ring, but do have a background in combat sports and based
on that, thus have the ability to draw interest, it is not the norm for those
who are just starting out in Boxing to be in a main event position, much less
as a pay-per-view attraction. As for the question that I had in mind prior to
Paul’s bout with Askren, I did wonder what the returns would be in terms of
pay-per-view buys, but in terms of the action inside the ring I wondered if
Askren would be able to test Paul in terms of his ability to take a punch. He
was not able to as Paul scored a first round knockout of Askren.
Tyron Woodley much like Ben Askren has an amateur
wrestling background, but did score his share knockouts in the sport of MMA
with his hands. So, I felt that if Woodley were able to land some offense on
Paul that the question my get some clarity even though it would not be at the
hands of a seasoned professional boxer. With over 16,000 spectators in
attendance at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, OH,
Paul’s hometown, on August 29th, the promotion was successful in terms of a
live gate attraction. Would the fight be a legitimate contest or would it be
something that would ultimately be frowned upon by both experts and fans alike?
The first couple rounds saw Paul dictating the combat in
keeping Woodley at distance with his jab and mixing in some combinations. One
thing that has been a question in regard to Woodley in some of his recent MMA
fights was his inability to let his hands go and stay busy over the course of a
fight. In the first three rounds of this fight, I felt that we were seeing some
of that inability show itself as Woodley was simply not busy and seemed
hesitant at times to throw punches. To be fair, one should remember that this
was the first time that Woodley had competed as a boxer and as such it may not
have been realistic to expect a high offensive output at least in the early
rounds.
Round four however, would see a little bit of a change in
Woodley connecting with a right hand to the head of Paul and knocking him into
the ropes. Frankly, this sequence where Woodley legitimately stunned Paul gave
the appearance that the ropes prevented him from going down and in some cases a
referee would be justified in calling that a knockdown. This would not be the
case as Referee George Nichols, who was officiating his twenty-first bout as a
professional referee, opted to not call it a knockdown. Nevertheless, it did
provide the first instance of adversity for Paul in a Boxing ring.
From this point in the fight on, Woodley had sporadic
success in landing hooks, uppercuts, and his right hand on Paul. While the pace
of the fight slowed slightly down the stretch of the scheduled eight round
bout, it was a question of whether or not Woodley’s sporadic moments though
eye-catching and appearing to be the harder punches landed, would be enough to
get the nod in terms of scoring. To his credit, Jake Paul was able to regain his
rhythm after what occurred in the fourth round and resumed throwing and landing
combinations in spots.
At the conclusion of this bout I felt that Paul had done
enough to win, but as someone who covers Boxing and has done so for most of his
life, I had a sense that no matter who won the fight that it did show that
Boxing like all combat sports is an extremely serious practice and should not
be treated with kid gloves or with a mentality that one can enter the sport and
do so in a top position that many boxers work their entire careers to achieve.
Although there were some that criticized the result of a split decision in
favor of Paul, I felt that he had done enough particularly over the first half
of the fight to win.
It should not go unnoticed however, that Tyron Woodley
did provide Jake Paul with a test. The question much as was the case after Paul’s
knockout of Ben Askren in April of this year is what now? Although credit
should be given where it is due in terms of the Paul brothers collective
ability to generate interest and create buzz in their respective forays into
the sport of Boxing, it is time for each of them to face boxers in competition
if they want to continue as boxers.
In regard to Jake Paul, he does show signs of potential,
but he needs to show that this is not a hobby of sorts and not a novelty act.
While he has called out other MMA fighters and top boxers such as Saul “Canelo”
Alvarez, the reality is if he wants to be a boxer he needs to face boxers and
give himself the time to hone his skills. While the bout with Tyron Woodley was
the first for Paul under a deal with Showtime, both he and the network need to
understand that the time for “Curiosity” has now passed and if this is not a
novelty, it is time to show just how serious his commitment to Boxing is. For
better or worse, Paul for the moment has also established himself to be
somewhat of a draw amongst casual observers, but that too will only last so
long if he chooses to both not face boxers that will help him not only prove
himself, but also develop his skills, and also as a hoped-for draw in the
declining realm of pay-per-view.
“And That’s The Boxing Truth.”
The Boxing Truth® is a registered trademark of Beau
Denison All Rights Reserved.
Follow Beau Denison on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Beau_Denison
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