Tommy Fury defeated Jake Paul by a split decision even though he went down in the final round.
Two judges had Fury winning by the same score, 76-73. One scored it for Paul, 75-74.
Fury was the quicker and better boxer of the two and did a good job of controlling the distance. However, Paul, who stalked Fury, managed to land many of the cleanest shots of the fight.
Many of the rounds were difficult to score, which resulted in the split decision.
You can read a full report here.
ROUND 8
Paul put Fury down with a jab about 20 seconds into the final round. Fury dominated the rest of the round. So the judges will have to decide whether it’s a 10-8 round for Paul or not. Paul looked tired down the stretch.
ROUND 7
Fury has suffered a cut on the outside of his left eye, the result of a clash of heads. It was another close, give-and-take round. Fury might’ve been a little busier, a little more accurate with his punches.
ROUND 6
Good round for Fury, aside from a point taken away from him. He was busier than Paul, beat Paul to the punch and was accurate with his shots. Not even sure why the ref took a point but at least it cancels out the previous deduction.
ROUND 5
Close, back-and-forth round. Paul might’ve landed the cleaner shorts, although Fury landed a nice right in the final seconds. The referee took a point from Paul for rabbit punching, which didn’t seem appropriate. Let’s hope that doesn’t decide the fight.
ROUND 4
Fury went to work that round. He was busy, firing off combination after combination. And many of the shots landed. Paul got in a few shots but Fury clearly won the round.
ROUND 3
Good round for Paul. Landed some nice jabs, a few left hooks, one or two overhand rights. Fury didn’t move quite as much that round but it was still competitive.
ROUND 2
Fury is doing a good job of controlling the distance. He’s landing his quick jab and power shots here and there. A stalking Paul seems to be frustrated so far, although he connected on a few shots too. We’re still just getting started.
ROUND 1
Sloppy start, which can be expected for two beginners. They wrestled as much as punched in the first minute. Neither guy landed much of anything. Paul connected on one overhand right. Fury delivered a nice flurry in the final seconds.
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The main event is next. We’re minutes away from the ring walks.
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Badou Jack knocked out Ilunga Makabu 54 seconds into the 12th and final round to take Makabu’s WBC 200-pound title..
Jack (28-3-3, 17 KOs) outclassed Makabu (29-3, 25 KOs), outboxing him, breaking him down, putting him down twice (in Rounds 4 and 11) and ultimately stopping him.
The end came when Jack hurt a fading Makabu with a right hand and then followed with a flurry of shots that prompted the referee to stop the fight.
A full report will follow shortly.
***
The Jake Paul-Tommy Fury card in Saudi Arabia is well underway.
Next up is WBC 200-pound champ Ilunga Makabu’s defense against former 168-pound titleholder and 175-pound contender Badou Jack.
***
YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul is scheduled to face Tommy Fury in an eight-round 185-pound pay-per-view (ESPN+) bout Sunday night in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia.
Also on the card, WBC cruiserweight beltholder Ilunga Makabu will defend his title against Badou Jack.
The featured bouts on the card begin at 2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT. The main event will take place later in show.
Boxing Junkie will post the result of the main event and Makabu-Jack fight immediately after they end. Simply return to this post and refresh when the time comes.
Full coverage – a fight story, photo gallery and analysis – will follow on separate posts the day of the fight and the following day.
Enjoy the fights!
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