Jake Paul Defeats Former UFC Champ Tyron Woodley; Amanda Wins Too

Jake “The Problem Child” Paul shed the talk and walked the walk in defeating former UFC champion Tyron Woodley by a split decision to win the cruiserweight battle between social media king and MMA fighter on Sunday.

“Woodley is a tough opponent,” said Paul.

Paul (4-0, 3 KOs) promised a knockout but settled for a decision win over Woodley (0-1) who was fighting his first time in boxing. Many in the sold-out crowd of more than 16,000 at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland were watching prizefighting for the first time.

It was also Paul’s first time going the distance and hearing the judge’s decision. Surprisingly it was a split decision. Most boxing experts felt the loser Woodley captured only two of the eight rounds.

During the first three rounds it was painful to watch Woodley who seemed lost inside a boxing ring instead of a cage. Paul seemed to be able to control the fight with a jab to the body and head. Several times Woodley attempted to attack but seemed awkward.

During the fourth round, after seemingly losing every round, Woodley connected with a left hook and stunned Paul. He followed up with a three-punch combination that sent the bigger blonde fighter dangling on the ropes. The referee could have counted it as a knockdown, but did not.

“He hit me with one shot,” said Paul. “It was real good.”

Paul resumed controlling the distance and landing more punches. The rounds were closer but after Paul connected with a check left hook and wagged his tongue, Woodley seemed hesitant about charging in.

In between rounds Woodley’s corner advised him to fire more blows. He did not do much more and it cost him the fight. The scores were 78-74, 77-75 for Paul and 77-75 for Woodley.

“All my previous opponents went in one round,” said Paul happy to go the distance.

Amanda Serrano Wins

Puerto Rico’s Amanda Serrano (41-1-1, 30 KOs) was hunting for a knockout victory but settled for a unanimous decision win over Mexico’s Yamileth Mercado (18-3, 5 KOs) in the battle between world champions.

“She was a tough Mexican,” said Serrano. “She’s a champion in her own weight class.”

Serrano unleashed a withering body attack on Mercado who was able to survive the vicious blows for 10 rounds. It was painful to watch.

Mercado tried to counter Serrano’s constant attack especially with counter rights. Serrano was just too experienced and countered the counters with even more combinations.

Mercado never quit, but the WBC super bantamweight titlist who moved up in weight for this match was out-gunned and never able to hurt the Puerto Rican slugger. The only solace – she heard the final bell. Serrano had knocked out three consecutive foes including Argentina’s talented Daniela Bermudez with a body shot.

There were no knockdowns of Mercado but in the final round Serrano connected with a wicked right hook that seemed to send the Mexico fighter into Lalaland for a moment. But she quickly regained her senses and tried to fire back. All three judges scored in favor of Serrano 99-91, 98-92, 97-93.

Now Serrano seeks to unify the featherweight division. No other Puerto Rican fighter has accomplished the feat.

Other Bouts

England’s Daniel Dubois (17-0, 16 KOs) powered his way to victory with three knockdowns in stopping Joe Cusumano (19-4, 17 KOs) by knockout in the first round of a heavyweight clash. There was no time to test the water.

“My dad told me go for the first round,” said Dubois. “The greatest is still to come. I went for the kill.”

It was the British heavyweight’s first foray on American soil and both heavyweights wasted no time in unleashing bombs. Dubois connected first and connected and connected.

A right behind the ear of Cusumano dropped him early in the fight. Then a right cross connected again and down went Cusumano. Though he tried to rally back, Dubois would not allow him back in the fight and used a three-punch combination to end the fight at 2:10 of the first round.

Montana Love (16-0-1, 8 KOs) showed his hometown Cleveland and the rest of the super lightweight division he’s ready for world title foes with a one-punch technical knockout win over Ivan Baranchyk (20-3, 13 KOs).

Love hit and moved against the more stationary slugger Baranchyk. Though the Russian fighter was a former world champion, he just couldn’t match the southpaw fighter’s ability to move from one side to the other. While trying to figure it out Love hit him with a left uppercut and dropped him in the seventh.

Baranchyk’s trainer stopped the fight at the end of the seventh round.

Love felt he had finally proved himself to the world.

“It’s a dream come true,” said Love.

Tommy Fury defeated Anthony Taylor by decision in a poorly fought light heavyweight fight that went four rounds. All three judges scored it 40-36. Fury is the half-brother of heavyweight world champion Tyson Fury.

Charles Conwell (16-0, 12 KOs) blasted out Mexico’s Juan Carlos Rubio (18-1, 9 KOs) by knockout to win the battle of the undefeated super welterweights. The end came at 2:49 of the third round. Conwell, a native of Cleveland, was too strong for Rubio.

Photo credit: Amanda Westcott / Showtime

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