Paul puts Woodley to sleep with face-first KO in 6th, leaving no doubt in rematch
Serrano routs Gutierrez; Williams (NBA) tops Gore (NFL)
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For five-plus rounds, the Jake Paul-Tyron Woodley rematch on Saturday night lacked for action or even quality skills being put on display, but in the blink of an eye Paul turned a most forgettable bout into one with an all-time highlight.
With a gargantuan right hand to the chin in the sixth round, Paul, the social media personality and novice boxer, scored one of the most sensational one-punch knockouts in recent history as he laid former UFC champion Woodley out cold face first in the center of the ring for an obvious KO of the year contender before the pro-Paul crowd announced at 18,685 inside Amalie Arena in Tampa.
On Aug. 29, in his hometown of Cleveland, Paul (5-0, 4 KOs) edged Woodley (0-2) by split decision, 78-74 and 77-75 for Paul and 77-75 for Woodley, with Paul demanding a rematch. Paul, however, instead opted to face his first opponent who was strictly a boxer in Tommy Fury, the younger brother of heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, in his Showtime PPV headliner.
But when England’s Fury (7-0, 4 KOs), 22, who had won a four-rounder on the Paul-Woodley I undercard, withdrew from the fight two weeks ago, claiming a chest infection and a broken rib, Woodley, 39, of St. Louis, accepted the rematch on short notice with the promise of having an extra $500,000 added to his purse if he could knock out Paul.
That cash is safely still with Paul, 24, after his crushing knockout victory in their rematch, which was a scheduled eight-rounder at contracted at 192 pounds.
“This has to be the greatest moment of my life,” Paul said. “Look at what I just did. Look at the year I just had. Unprecedented. One of the most valuable boxers in this sport. Four fights. Four massive pay-per-views in 13 months. I’ve knocked out every single person that I’ve fought. Every single person that I’ve fought.”
In their first meeting, Paul survived a big punch from Woodley that rocked him. In the rematch, he persevered through a deep cut on his forehead caused by an accidental elbow from Woodley in the third round.
“Tyron is a legend. Don’t take anything away from his career as a UFC champion,” Paul said. “I respect him for taking this fight on two weeks’ notice because Tommy Fury backed out of the fight. That was a tough fight right there. The blood was getting in my eye from when he elbowed me. I got the job done and I knew it would happen like that. I was setting up the shot the whole fight and he didn’t see it coming.”
Paul led on all three scorecards at the time of the knockout, 49-46, 49-46 and 48-46.
“I don’t know why I dropped my hands,” Woodley said. “In this sport, it only takes one mistake. Literally one mistake.”
Serrano routs Gutierrez
Seven-division women’s champion and reigning featherweight titlist Amanda Serrano (42-1-1, 30 KOs), 33, a Puerto Rican fighting out of Brooklyn, New York, moved up two divisions to lightweight and routed Miriam Gutierrez (14-2, 5 KOs), 38, of Spain, in the co-feature.
“I think I belong in the 135-pound division,” Serrano said. “I belong wherever they put me. I’m a true warrior. I’m a true champion. My power comes wherever I take it. You can see her face and look at my face.”
Serrano won 100-90, 99-91 and 99-90 and set up a likely spring fight with undisputed women’s lightweight champion Katie Taylor (20-0, 6 KOs), 35, of Ireland. It is perhaps the biggest fight that can be made in women’s boxing.
“I’m ready for Katie,” Serrano said. “I don’t think she’s as strong as Miriam, so I think I’m OK.”
In 2020, Taylor dropped Gutierrez and won a 10-round decision to retain her title. Serrano also dominated her.
“She’s a tough girl. She’s a big girl. Tonight, she’s probably 160 or 165 pounds. Honestly, I’m like 133 or 134 pounds, but it doesn’t matter to me,” Serrano said. “She’s a tough fighter. She did say she was in better shape this time than when she fought Katie Taylor because she had a year layoff. Now, she just had a fight last month that she won. I fought the best Miriam Gutierrez and I beat her.”
Williams outpoints Gore
Former NBA All-Star Deron Williams won a four-round split decision over former NFL star running back Frank Gore in their heavyweight fight, which was changed from an official bout to an exhibition at the last minute by the Florida State Athletic Commission for reasons that were not announced.
Still, the fight was scored but the boxers wore 12-ounce gloves instead of 10-ounce gloves. Even with the larger gloves Williams scored a third-round knockdown and won a spit decision. The scores were 40-35 and 38-37 for Williams and 38-37 in favor of Gore.
“Honestly, I probably looked terrible out there,” said Williams, who added he was not planning to box again after fulfilling one of his dreams. “I felt like my last five sparring sessions I was on point. My head wasn’t coming up. As soon as you get out here and you start getting touched, it’s a whole different thing. All your training goes out the window. It was fun. I had a chance to get out here, but like I said coming in, it’s one and done.”
It was a bit of a sloppy fight given their inexperience, but Williams notched the signature moment of the bout in the third round when Gore dropped his hands for a moment and turned his head and Williams nailed him with a right hand. Gore was held up by the ropes and referee Christopher Young ruled a knockdown.
“I used my wrestling background to my advantage,” Williams said. “I just wanted to prove to myself that I could get out here and do this. Everybody that’s talking on Instagram and Twitter, they wouldn’t step in here in front of all these people and on pay-per-view for their first fight. Hats off to Frank. He had a dream. He had a goal. In my mind, we’re both winners tonight.”
Said Gore: “It’s all good. He won the fight. He fought hard. I fought hard. I just still have to learn some stuff. He did a good job. We’ll see if I fight again. I had fun tonight.”
Showtime will replay Paul-Woodley II, Serrano-Gutierrez and Williams-Gore on Dec. 28 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
Morrell stops Fox in four
David Morrell Jr. retained his WBA “regular” super middleweight belt by fourth-round stoppage of Alantez Fox in the main event of the Premier Boxing Champions card on Fox on Saturday night at The Armory in Minneapolis, Morrell’s adopted hometown.
Former Cuban amateur standout Morrell (6-0, 5 KOs), 23, a southpaw, retained the 168-pound belt for the second time in one-sided fashion against Fox (28-3-1, 13 KOs), 29, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland.
“I love fighting here in Minnesota,” Morrell said. “This is a great opportunity to fight in front of my fans here. It really motivates me.”
There was quite a bit of inside fighting in the first couple of rounds with Fox initiating clinches to slow down Morrell, but he still found a home for plenty of shots.
In the fourth round, Morrell connected with a left uppercut to knock Fox down. Morrell was all over him during the follow-up attack until Fox’s corner threw in the towel at 2 minutes, 6 seconds.
“I thought I won the first round, and in the second round I knew he was going to come out aggressively,” Fox said. “So, I was trying to move and make it tough for him. We were holding each other on the inside and he came in with a good shot that dazed me. I was upset about the fight being stopped, but I know that my team has my best interests at heart."
In the co-feature, lightweight Jose Valenzuela (11-0, 7 KOs), 22, of Mexico, dropped Austin Dulay (14-3, 10 KOs), 26, of Nashville, three times in the first round and again in the second round en route to a one-sided knockout win when the fight was stopped at the suggestion of the ringside doctor with Dulay on his stool two seconds into the fourth round.
Another undercard bout featured junior welterweight prospect Richardson Hitchins (13-0, 5 KOs), 24, a 2016 Haitian Olympian from Brooklyn, New York, winning a clear decision over Malik Hawkins (18-2, 11 KOs), 25, of Baltimore. Hitchins won 100-90, 97-93 and 96-94.
Paul-Woodley II card photos: Esther Lin/Showtime; Morrell-Fox photo: Sean Michael Ham/PBC
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Glad to be on board. After becoming disillusioned with the sport for a number of years my enthusiasm has returned and a big part of that is the WBA seemingly getting their act together finally. Please continue holding their feet to the fire Dan and we should start to have a clearer title picture at long last.
completely agree on the price of the Thurman-led PPV. Money is not an issue for me personally, but I don't intend to buy it at that price. If they'd halved it, I might have...but I think when they're pricing out a fight fan like me who can afford it, their numbers are going to be quite poor.