As it turns out, Tyron Woodley was not the mixed martial arts (MMA) savior fight fans were looking for to put an end to the Jake Paul hype train. “The Chosen One” came up on the wrong end of a split decision in what one can only describe as scoring that was all over the place.
Check out the wacky scorecards here.
Regardless of how the judges saw it, Woodley simply didn’t do enough to convince anyone that he was definitively the better boxer of the two. And that is just what most combat experts were banking on happening. Naturally, Woodley didn’t think he lost the fight and demanded an instant rematch over Tommy Fury — who defeated Anthony Taylor on the undercard (watch highlights) — was the front runner to fight “The Problem Child” next.
“I feel like I won the fight,” Woodley said after coming up short. “I feel like Jake’s a great opponent. I didn’t expect him to go down. Me and my coaches worked on that. That’s why I came in great shape, because I knew he could take a punch. But the fact the one judge gave me two rounds is laughable. No disrespect, but f—k the Fury fight, me and Jake need to run that back.”
“Off the top I want an instant rematch,” Woodley continued. “Nobody going to sell a pay-per-view like we did. Fury ain’t going to do it. Of course I want a rematch. I felt like I won the fight. I felt like he was tough but I hit him and the ropes held him up. I landed the more power shots. When he threw shots they were hitting my gloves. And when he landed a clean shot, which he did. He landed clean shots and I knew he had heavy hands. But I didn’t hit the ground like his other opponents. I walked him down and I landed back. So let’s run it back.”
Paul shook Woodley’s hand in the middle of the ring and agreed to a rematch after just second prior refusing to do so. Now, I am not one to question Paul’s word as a man, but he can (and most likely will) move on from Woodley. There is no reason to fight him again because he has the pick of a the litter of people lining up around the corner to fight him.
Paul is a smart business man and he’s been carefully planning all of his next two or three moves to make sure things fall in his favor. He really doesn’t get anything out of fighting Woodley again and, most important, who wants to pay to see it again? Do you really expect anything different in the rematch?
If I am Woodley, I’m not holding my breath in hopes that “The Problem Child” will grant him an immediate do-over. I don’t blame “The Chosen One” for trying, but perhaps he should focus on the next part of his combat career.
He can go back to MMA, of course, or continue on in boxing. But is there really anyone out there that will help him sell and promote a fight like Paul did?
For complete Jake Paul vs. Tyron Woodley pay-per-view (PPV) event results and play-by-play, click HERE.