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Jake Paul is still undefeated as a professional boxer, passing his toughest test to date by scoring an unanimous decision win over MMA legend Anderson Silva tonight in Glendale, Ariz.
Paul (6-0, 4 KO) dropped Silva (3-2, 2 KO) in the early portion of the eighth and final round, and then was able to hold on through an aggressive push from Silva in the rest of the round.
The scores were 77-74, 78-73, and 78-73 for Paul. Our unofficial card saw it 76-75 for Paul, with a 10-8 final round in his favor making the difference.
Numbers-wise, the fight was pretty even, with Paul landing 83 of 336 (25%) of his total punches, including 51 of 121 (42%) of his power shots and 32 of 215 (15%) of his jabs. He stayed committed to that jab, and also to the body attack, where he out-landed Silva, 30-13.
Silva landed 79 of 251 (31%) of his total punches, and 66 of 176 (38%) of his power shots, with 13 of 75 (17%) jabs connecting.
Silva, 47, did his best to get into Paul’s head, especially in the first few rounds, taunting and playing around, trying to throw Paul off. It may have frustrated Paul some, but the 25-year-old “Problem Child” also never got overwhelmed by any of it, sticking to what he’d planned to do.
Both fighters had good moments. In portions, Silva was able to out-box Paul, and get him to the ropes and into the corners. But when Paul was able to keep it in the center of the ring, he did good work, too.
“It’s a surreal moment. Hard work pays off, and first and foremost, I want to say thank you to Anderson. He was my idol growing up, he inspired me to be great,” Paul said. “He was the first celebrity I ever met. Without him, we wouldn’t have had a fight this year. He’s a tough mofo, like, for real — he’s a legend, I have nothing but respect for him.”
Asked about the knockdown, Paul said, “We were just fighting in the clinch and he got caught on the way out. He took so many hard shots throughout the whole fight. Dude’s a real dog. Man, he’s the toughest guy in the world, I swear to God, but I just wanted it more. I’m a real dog and I left it all in the ring.”
“They’re gonna find something to say. Fight a real boxer — bitch, I tried! If I were walking on water, people would say that I can’t swim. There’s always gonna be haters and critics, that’s just there, it’s every day part of life if you’re doing something and being successful. I don’t worry about that shit. This is just the start, baby.”
Paul then called out both Nate Diaz and Canelo Alvarez.
“I worked hard to do a special show for everybody here,” Silva said with his time on the mic. “Thank you to everyone who came, and that’s the game. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Nothing changes in my life, I will continue to train hard. I’m born for this.”
“I think the judges got it right. It’s tough to come in here and fight with a young kid. I tried to do my best. Jake is better than me today. I don’t have nothing to say bad about my opponent,” he added. “I think everybody needs to respect this kid, he’s doing the best job. I trained hard, I’m a warrior, and I know this fight was hard. It was very hard for me today.”
Silva says he will continue to fight, with a jiu-jitsu tournament to come next.
Paul vs Silva highlights
Anderson showing his sniper skills #PaulSilva pic.twitter.com/fzCxNYqi75
— FITE (@FiteTV) October 30, 2022
Anderson doing Anderson Silva antics #PaulSilva pic.twitter.com/o8rBszbRk0
— FITE (@FiteTV) October 30, 2022
.@SpiderAnderson is working #PaulSilva pic.twitter.com/a2inIw85hb
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) October 30, 2022
Punches are flying in Phoenix @SpiderAnderson @jakepaul | #PaulSilva pic.twitter.com/ubmBKkQJqj
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) October 30, 2022
.@jakepaul & @SpiderAnderson bringing the #PaulSilva pic.twitter.com/M4JTqlLJve
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) October 30, 2022
.@jakepaul ends Silva to the canvas in the final round #PaulSilva pic.twitter.com/UZYqfGok6n
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) October 30, 2022
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