Jake Paul won a unanimous decision against former UFC star Anderson Silva on Saturday night, giving the YouTuber-turned-boxer a signature win as he gains credibility in the sport.
The entertaining fight went the eight-round distance and the final round was a doozy, with a ferocious right hand from Paul (6-0) sending Silva to the canvas. After remaining undefeated he called out UFC star Nate Diaz and boxing world champion Canelo Alvarez, saying: ‘I want Nate Diaz, who’s a b****.
‘He tried to come into my locker room, he tried to cause some s***. Then he always leaves the f***ing arena. So, Nate Diaz, stop being a b**** and fight me. And Canelo, you too.
The fight was slow to develop with Silva rarely throwing punches in the opening round, but the Brazilian landed a few hard shots in the second round, dancing around the ring while avoiding Paul’s biggest blows.
Both fighters exchanged some taunts early but the bravado gave way to concentration as both realized it would be a lengthy fight. Paul held his own during the middle rounds – with blood coming from Silva’s nose – but couldn’t land most of his powerful swings. That started to change in the later rounds as the younger Paul gained confidence and the punches started connecting.
It was a spectacle in front of more than 14,000 fans that mixed boxing and all different types of celebrity, but the main draw was the 25-year-old Paul, who has shown a surprising knack for skills in the ring.
He’s also a master of self-promotion, riding up to Wednesday’s open workout on a horse and walking around Desert Diamond Arena on Saturday with two people in gigantic Transformers-like outfits behind him.
Then, finally, in the eighth and final round, Paul released a hard right hand that followed a stiff left to Silva’s nose.
That knockdown dropped Silva to one knee. He responded to provide another two minutes of compelling action, but getting dropped was more than enough of a margin for Paul, 25.
And while it appeared during the wait that the scorecards would be unkind to the popular YouTuber following an entertaining battle with Silva, 47, the judges instead surprisingly gave the nod to Paul by scores of 77-74, 78-73, 78-73.
In victory, Paul called out recent UFC main-event winner Nate Diaz for a showdown in 2023.
USA TODAY Sports’ Lance Pugmire detailed some of the round-by-round action from Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona.
In an arena packed with YouTubers and hundreds of selfie-taking fans powerfully displaying the influence of social media, the fighter with 20 million YouTube followers stepped into a boxing ring to participate in the ancient form of hand-to-hand combat.
Facing the beyond-wise Silva, the exuberant Paul came out jabbing. Southpaw Silva pawed away the advances as the crowd roared “Silva!” and then Paul delivered a body shot. Silva backed from a head shot, then positioned to land a clean left to Paul’s face.
Paul, 10-9.
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