This past Sunday at a boxing event in Saudi Arabia, Jake Paul (6-1) took on his toughest test to date in the undefeated Tommy Fury (9-0). Fury, the younger brother of heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, was the first opponent Paul faced that was considered a legit boxer.
Granted, Fury’s previous boxing matchups left much to be desired. So much so that I honestly thought Jake Paul would defeat him on Sunday. Fury looked slow and his shots didn’t look crisp in previous fights. Combine that with his terrible level of competition and I just wasn’t impressed.
On the flip side, Paul had never fought an actual boxer. Granted, being in the ring with Anderson Silva went a long ways with me. Despite Silva being nearly 50-years-old, he’s shown tremendous boxing skill and even defeated former world champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
When the opening bell sounded on Sunday, it was clear that I was very wrong. Tommy Fury looked very good and was doing a number on Jake Paul in the early rounds. Long jabs with crisp combinations frustrated “The Problem Child”.
Paul kept looking for big shots, but he never could find his signature right hand. He did do a good job landing check lefts, but he wasn’t landing the same as Tommy Fury. It was clear that Tommy Fury was the better boxer on Sunday.
I will give Jake Paul credit, he kept bringing the fight to Tommy Fury. In the eighth round, he even dropped Fury with a big straight left hand. However, it wasn’t enough in the end to dig himself out of the hole he found himself in. The judges were split but Fury got the win and Jake Paul took his first loss.
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Jake Paul deserves a ton of credit for how he handled the loss. He said he felt flat, but he didn’t make any excuses. He admitted that Fury won the fight and he wants to run it back with him. The contract that was signed included an immediate rematch clause should Paul lose the fight.
Jake Paul could move on to lesser opponents and probably make just as much money. However, he’s taking his boxing career seriously and wants to run it back with Fury. Could that be a mistake? Possibly, but he deserves credit for wanting to run it back.
The reality that Paul is facing is that a big part of his allure is gone. He signed this superfight deal with PFL and had a lot of backing behind him mainly because he was undefeated. Now that he’s not, I’m not sure he’s going to draw the same way that he did before.
I expect these two will run it back over the summer and honestly, Jake Paul would need a knockout or a dominant win to gain some of the steam he lost.