JAKE PAUL was rocked and hurt for the first time in his boxing career in his close win over Tyron Woodley.
The Problem Child, 24, took on the former UFC champ in Ohio early on Monday morning.
He took the win via a controversial split decision.
But after three routine knockout wins, this was his toughest test so far.
And so it proved in the fourth round.
Woodley had started very passively but exploded into life in round four as he finally went on the offensive.
With a minute to go, the 39-year-old stepped in and went swinging.
Woodley, the shorter of the two men, crashed a huge right hook on to the head of Paul.
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The YouTuber was stunned and fell back into the ropes, struggling to keep himself upright.
Thankfully for the entertainer, though, Woodley decided to wave his arm around to get the crowd going – rather than going in for the killer blow.
That allowed Paul to catch his breath and recover to see out the remaining 40 seconds of the round.
All three judges gave the fourth round to veteran Woodley.
But he went down 77-75, 78-74, 75-77 on the judges’ scorecards – results that left both men complaining.
Paul confessed he was stunned by the one big blow – but quickly reiterated that was the only major shot Woodley landed across the eight rounds.
‘ONE SHOT’
Speaking in the ring, he said: “He hit me with one shot all fight, it was a good shot and he had more shots, (but) there was only one real shot.
“I got eight rounds under my belt, all my previous opponents went in one minute. I’m doing things no-one has done.
“It was a tougher fight than I expected, my legs felt weird since the locker room. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.
“He’s a Hall of Famer, he had a good fight, he came in shape. I have a lot of respect for him.
“There’s been a lot of s*** talk, apologies to his team if they were disrespected. This is a dream come true, I want to cry but I’m a little tired.”
Fans on Twitter piled in with their views on the heavy Woodley hit – mocking Paul but berating his opponent for not finishing the job.
One said: “Maybe he could have finished it off instead of waving his hand around … but I guess losing is fun too.”
Another wrote: “This clip is gonna haunt Jake forever.”
And a third added: “What fighter in any discipline not gonna continue striking here?”
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
