What will they say about him? Jake Paul Currently?
Heading into the Showtime headline on Saturday night, the prevailing notion was that the YouTube star turned boxer would face his toughest challenge as the former UFC middleweight champion. Anderson Silva. The fight was more exciting than anyone expected, with Silva pushing Paul as best he could. In the end, Paul outplayed Silva and won by unanimous decision at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona, with the judges scoring the fight 77-74, 78-73, 78-73 in his favour.
“They’ll find something to say, ‘Fight a real boxer,'” Paul said then. “B*tch, I tried. Hey, if I walk on water people will say I can’t swim. There will always be haters. There will always be critics. he’s there. It’s every day, a part of life if you do something and get success. So don’t worry about this. This is just the beginning, baby.”
Based on the first round alone, the fight should have been slow and calculated as Silva came out relaxed and didn’t throw much while Paul pushed the action. But that all changed in the second round, when Silva took things to another level and pulled Paul out of his comfort zone. The mental war was on, with Silva landing and taunting Paul on more than one occasion.
As the fighting continued, the brutality increased. On occasion, Paul and Silva fought in a phone booth, something Paul had not done in his previous fights with former MMA champions Ben Askren and Tyron Woodley.
Silva’s best hit of the night was his indoor appearance, while Paul had success with three-strokes upstairs and downstairs and constantly looked at big ground to the right – which he did several times, but Silva was able to grab it.
That is, until the eighth and final round. Silva walked out with a sense of urgency, blitzing and throwing combos. But after 30 seconds, Paul finally found a big punch and threw Silva on the canvas. Even after the knockout, Silva still flirted forward. As far as he pushed, Silva couldn’t find a single punch in the final frame.
.Tweet embed Silva sends to the canvas in the last round 😮#Paul Silva pic.twitter.com/mO6Tdw4wy1
Showtime Boxing October 30, 2022
It wasn’t a bad show for the 47-year-old Silva. But 25-year-old Paul did better.
“Listen, it’s hard to get in here and fight with a little kid,” Silva said. “I tried to do my best. I train hard every day. Jake is better than me today. I don’t have anything bad to say about my opponent. I think everyone needs to respect this kid, because he does the best job.”
And now Paul can look forward to a showdown with former UFC star Nate Diaz, which has been talked about for months and obviously will happen now that Diaz is a free agent.
“I want Nate Diaz, who’s a whore,” Paul said. “He tried to get into my playroom. He tried to cause some filth. Then he always leaves the f*cking arena. So Nate Diaz, stop being a bitch and fight me.”
For full card coverage, check out the MMA Junkie events page for Paul vs Silva.
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