*** ROBBERY?!?!?!? To watch Jake Paul vs. Tommy Furry full fight video highlights click here ***
If you thought yesterday’s Floyd Mayweather exhibition card was the pinnacle of boxing this weekend, man, it’s time for the main event. We’ve got Jake Paul: YouTube and social media sensation who has knocked out former mixed martial arts (MMA) world champions. We’ve got Tommy Fury: half-brother of heavyweight champion Tyson Fury and undefeated (8-0) professional boxer. We’ve got Jake Paul fighting his first professional boxer, everybody!
The Paul vs. Fury ESPN+ pay-per-view (PPV) main card — which will emanate from inside Diriyah Arena in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia, this afternoon (Sun., Feb. 26, 2023) — gets underway at 2 p.m. ET (11 a.m. PT) and costs $49.99 to stream (watch it here). Odds available at DraftKings Sportsbook.
. @jakepaul stares down @tommytntfury at today’s #PaulFury presser pic.twitter.com/TlrPiZo5N8
— MMA mania (@mmamania) February 23, 2023
It’s almost shocking that this fight hasn’t somehow fallen apart again, as this is the third attempt at booking this marquee match up. The first time, Fury pulled out due to an illness, which led to MMA’s own Tyron Woodley stepping up to rematch Paul. Spoiler: it ended poorly for “The Chosen One”. The second time, Fury was unable to get a visa to the United States because of relations with the sanctioned Kinahan crime syndicate.
But we’re here. They’re there. In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Fists will fly. They already nearly did!
Paul Vs. Fury Quick Results:
Tommy Fury def. Jake Paul — DEC (split 76-73 x2, 74-75) — HIGHLIGHTS!
Badou Jack def. Ilunga Makabu — TKO (0:54, round 12) — HIGHLIGHTS!
Bader Samreen def. Viorel Simion — TKO (1:26, round 1) — HIGHLIGHTS!
Muhsin Cason def. Taryel Jafarov — TKO (3:00, round 1)
Ziyad Almaayouf vs. Ronnald Martinez — DEC (Unanimous 38-37 x3)
Jake Paul vs. Tommy Fury Play-By-Play Updates:
Jake Paul vs. Tommy Fury
Round 1: Fury in white, Paul in black. Fury comes forward first with a right hand and Paul clinches. Paul with a body jab. Paul with a right in the clinch. Fury with a double jab. Fury with a left on the break. Overhand lands for Paul as Fury comes forward. Fury with a pair of jabs, hook from Paul. Fury with a combo in the final seconds.
10-9 Fury
Round 2: Clean jab from Fury. Paul wades in and gets in a right, Fury responds with a cleaner one. Jab from both men. Fury with a right, but hits mostly glove. Right hand by Paul. A jab, too. Both men hit simultaneously on their jab. Then Fury hits a second jab. Fury dodges a right and lands one. Left hand by Paul.
10-9 Fury
Round 3: Fury with a right to the body. Paul with a jab. There’s a good jab from Paul. A third one. Fury gets one back. Flicking jab by Tommy who backs away from the return fire. Paul counters with an overhand as Paul comes in. Ref warns ‘em about a clash of heads. Both men jab.
10-9 Paul
Round 4: Fury with a nice right hand that backs up Paul. Fury follows with a combo, but doesn’t land super clean. Paul tries ducking down and coming over the top, but gets stuck under the armpit. Fury looking to counter and does, hits Paul clean a couple times. Paul still there and coming forward, misses a left. Fury is unable to make him pay with anything on that exchange. Paul with a left that pushes Fury back to the ropes. He escapes to his left. That was a shot straight to the back of Paul’s head. Direct rabbit punch.
10-9 Fury
Round 5: First clean landed strike of the round is a jab from Fury, who has looked too quick for Paul most of the time. Left from Paul. The best shots from Paul have been a counter overhand right as Fury comes forward, and he lands it again. Clinch and the ref calls time… and he takes a point from Paul for the back of the head! I didn’t see it, but hopefully we get a replay at the end. Paul with a snapping jab that bounces Fury’s head back.
9-9 round
Round 6: Paul with a jab. Fury sidesteps a Paul rush and gets in a couple shots. Shovel uppercut from Fury. Paul looking a bit tired. Fury with two lead hands. Ref giving them the business over the clinching. Now he takes a point from Fury for hooking the arms of Paul. He’s getting chippy with them both as they clinch up a lot here in the 6th. Right hand from Fury.
Another 9-9 round
Round 7: I think Paul senses he’s down on the cards and is swinging a bit bigger on his power shots, trying for the knockout. Fury pot-shotting in between clinches. There’s a nice combo from Fury that makes Paul tie him up. Left by Paul. Right by Fury. No, I won’t make a Body by Jake joke. Fury lands a nice right hook. They stare at each other as the clapper sounds before a jab lands for Fury.
10-9 Fury
Round 8: There’s a nice left hand from Paul. Finally, we’ve got something as Fury eats a straight as he was off-balance and he goes down to the canvas. First knockdown goes to Paul. Fury back up and hits a left. Counter right lands for the Brit. Feint-feint-1-2 for Fury. Fury combo’ing mightily. There’s a nice right hand by Fury. Paul cracks in a right. Fury with an uppercut as time starts to wind down.
10-9 Fury
FINAL RESULT: Tommy Fury def. Jake Paul by split decision 76-73 x2, 74-75 — WATCH HIGHLIGHTS!
Ilunga Makabu (Champion) vs. Badou Jack
Round 1: Makabu black and yellow, Jack in gold. Slow start in this 12-rounder. Makabu clips in a winging right. Jack with a shot to the breadbasket. Makabu responds back to the body. Might’ve been a hair low. Jack jabbing, Makabu slipping. Quiet round, could be 10-10.
10-9 Jack
Round 2: Another slow start with these men mostly fighting on the outside. Jack is a bit longer and lands to the body. 1-2 from Jack. And a right that seems to wobble Makabu a little. Jack mostly circling to his left and landing the jab outside the guard. There’s a left straight from Makabu. He goes on the offense at the sound of the clapper and forces Jack onto the back foot.
10-9 Jack
Round 3: Makabu ducks down and just kinda stays there. That gives Jack an opportunity to throw and land an uppercut. Badou lands another little short, shovel hook as Makabu stays low. Makabu aggressive now and gets some back. Two lefts near the liver land for Makabu. Jab to the body and a right hook upstairs from the champion. Jack getting hit cleaner now. Good right hand by Makabu. Jack fires back and gets a little of that traffic back. Makabu keeps ducking and Jack keeps landing that low right.
10-9 Makabu
Round 4: Makabu backing up Jack with a flicking jab. Both men with shots around the beltline. Makabu to the body as Jack circles away from the power hand. There’s a nice combo from Jack who gets a good shot to the right side of the ribs at the end of it. There’s a right hand and Makabu gets sent ass over skates! Makabu literally somersaulted back from that big right. Makabu seems back in it and is back to what he was doing before the knockdown.
Replays show that Jack got his left leg behind Makabu’s knee as the shot land, which severely off-balanced him, more than it being a thunderous punch that sent him overboard.
10-8 Jack
Round 5: Jack 1-2. Makabu to the body of the circling challenger. Makabu landing wide right hands around the guard of Jack. He went to the body with a left there and was very lazy out of it, but Jack didn’t throw anything to make him pay. Nice left uppercut/shovel hook from Makabu gets in clean. Makabu throws a straight left that lands just short. Rights from both men. Makabu walking forward and getting in a few half-power shots.
10-9 Makabu
Round 6: Clean right from Jack. There’s one from Makabu. Good jab by Jack. Makabu with two lefts to the body. Jack with a body shot as well. Makabu with two rights, Jack gets one back. Rights from both men. Makabu comes forward at the end and gets in a clean left in a combo.
10-9 Makabu
Round 7: Jack with a pair of 1-2s. Body-body by Makabu. Makabu throws one that looks like it hit the thigh of Jack. And same from the other man. Jack on the offensive all of a sudden. He gets in a right hand and Makabu is backing up. Makabu with a double jab. Jack trying to bait something, but he’s eating so many half-power shots from Makabu as he’s trying to figure out his opening. There’s two rights to the body from Badou. Makabu hits an overhand.
10-9 Jack
Round 8: Jack with some nice counters off Makabu’s jab. Step-in right, too. Clinch and a good short left by Makabu. Makabu gets lazy with his lead hand and Jack counters with a right. Makabu lands a left to the body, eats a pair of rights seconds later. Jack left-right-left. 3-2 from Makabu. Now Jack hits his power hand a couple times. Jack standing and trading well. Nope, there’s a left that looks like it hurts him a bit and he backs off.
10-9 Jack
Round 9: Early jabs from both men. Head-body by Jack. Both men connect on a jab, but Jack follows his with a right hand that lands, too. They get into the pocket, and after some hesitation, Jack gets in a few short ones, but Makabu cracks back with what looks to be a little harder. Jack sits down on a big power shot, but Makabu ducks it. Makabu throws an overhand at the same time Jack throws an uppercut and both men clipped each other. Makabu working Jack along the ropes now with 40 seconds left. Makabu to the head, Jack to the body. Both men with left hands. Jack throwing a combo as the round nears a close, but Makabu lands clean twice.
10-9 Makabu
Round 10: Jack thuds one to the guts. Pocket punching and it looked like Jack got the better of that exchange. Jack leading the dance now. Big 1-2 for Jack. A nice left. Another 1-2. Makabu looks like he might be waning. He still possesses power and Jack respects the traffic coming in his direction. They’re back into the pocket and Makabu is landing. There’s two, no three shots. He’s got Jack retreating now. Gets in a clean right. Both men land right hands. Uppercut by Jack, and a left cross. Left by Makabu. Great round.
10-9 Jack
Round 11: Jack with the 1-2 to the body and then one upstairs. Jack with a right hand and that drops Makabu! Makabu doesn’t appear to be terribly wobbled, but he’s tiring and Jack is pouring it on here. Good right, and another. Makabu’s base doesn’t look to be very stable. A right hand backs up Makabu again. He finally lands a good left of his own. Makabu still unsteady, but punching well. He’s plodding now to make sure he stays upright. Jack still dancing left and right. Makabu with a couple jabs. Quick combo and a circle out by Jack. Makabu looks like he’s back on steady legs now, trying to hunt down Jack, but he’s not quick enough.
10-8 Jack
Round 12: Nice right hand from Jack halts Makabu’s forward progress. After a few blinks, he’s back trying to go after Jack. Jack with a nice right hand that backs up Makabu. Jack is chasing after him. He’s got him on the ropes, and he’s throwing the world at Makabu. The ref steps in! It looked like Makabu was still in it, but that’s all she wrote. What a great win for Badou Jack, as he becomes a 3-weight class champion.
FINAL RESULT: Badou Jack def. Junior Ilunga Makabu via TKO (Rd. 12, 0:54) — Watch Highlights!
Ziyad Almaayouf vs. Ronnald Martinez
Round 1: Almaayouf in black, gold and green, Martinez in black and red. Home crowd cheering madly for young Ziyad. Martinez lands first, Almaayouf quickly returns fire. Both men firing, Martinez clinches and the ref separates. Straight right hits for Almaayouf. There’s a hook, too. Martinez gets backed into the corner and has to swing out of it. Gets in a short right. Both men get rights in. There’s a solid right hand from Martinez that drops Almaayouf! They were throwing at the same time, but Martinez was just a bit quicker. Almaayouf is up and lands a nice right of his own.
10-8 Martinez
Round 2: Almaayouf with a double jab, Martinez responds with a 1-2. Almaayouf cracks in a left. Right from the Ecuadorian. Martinez ducks into the chest of Almaayouf and throws a 3-2. Martinez tried an uppercut, but Almaayouf was out of range. Martinez walks into a jab and looks like a Pez dispenser.
10-9 Almaayouf
Round 3: Martinez gets in a right on the break. Quadruple jab and a right for Martinez, who wears every shot well. Left by Martinez, right by Almaayouf. Clean right crashes into Martinez’s cheek, but he’s wearing it well so far. Martinez with a pair of rights, and Almaayouf answers with one of his own. Martinez hasn’t landed any of these uppercuts, but he still throws a few of them each round, perhaps just to keep Almaayouf honest.
10-9 Almaayouf
Round 4: Almaayouf bashes Martinez back into a corner, lands a couple of nice shots. Martinez with a left. Almaayouf hits one to the back of the head and that draws a caution from the ref. Triple jab and a right to the body by Almaayouf. Lovely straight left whips back Martinez’s head. Martinez gets a right in, but so does Almaayouf. 3-2 by Almaayouf. Both men throwing and landing here in the final 15 seconds.
10-9 Almaayouf
FINAL RESULT: Ziyad Almaayouf def. Ronnald Martinez by unanimous decision 38-37 x3
Bader Samreen vs. Viorel Simion
Round 1: Simion in black and red, Samreen in white. Simion ducking the jabs from Samreen. Samreen gets in a left to the body. Simion closes the range and starts to fire from the pocket, but it’s Samreen that’s landing better. There’s a right, and another. That second put Simion on wobbly legs and an left uppercut mushes him down to the canvas at 1:45. He beats the count, but decides that was enough of that and concedes.
FINAL RESULT: Bader Samreen def. Viorel Simion via KO (Rd. 1, 1:26) – WATCH HIGHLIGHTS!
Muhsin Cason vs. Taryel Jafarov
Round 1: Jafarov in white and gold, Cason in red. Cason with a big right hand that drops Jafarov immediately. Jafarov comes back firing, but he’s still a bit unsteady. Cason with a couple jabs. Three more, none at full speed. Jafarov ducks a big right. Cason backs Jafarov into a corner and he’s just covering up as Cason swings away, but with some patience. Cason with two rights to the body.
10-8 Cason
Round 2: Whelp, Jafarov’s corner wasn’t feeling it and stopped it in between the rounds. That’s that.
FINAL RESULT: Muhsin Cason def. Taryel Jafarov via TKO (Rd. 1, 3:00)
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