Jake Paul Wins + A Slow Fight Week Of Boxing Ahead – Links To Podcast As Well
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Jake Paul’s Star Grows
Jake Paul knows how to make headlines, he knows how to get attention, and after his eight-round decision win against Tyron Woodley, Paul is now also able to say he is flat-out tough. Despite what anyone might say, Paul took the punch of a former UFC world champion, despite Woodley being smaller, and withstood it, and while being tired for a good portion of the fight, fought composed and well enough to win.
Boxing rarely has positivity coming from their fanbase, but in this bout, this was not an event not targeted to boxing fans, and the event was sold more so as entertainment, and less so as a sport. The general theme of these fights whether it is Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr., or Jake Paul vs. Tyron Woodley, is the fight itself, is the most interesting thing, as the build-up for both was an intersection of pop culture meets the modern world. As a boxing fan, I think the word modern or popular are not too many terms we deal with often.
That being said, this was a PPV built around novice boxing that you often see in the amateurs, but with high drama, that we see in heavily viewed YouTube videos around high-school-like drama. The fight itself was not interesting, but the impacts it will have on boxing as a whole for the next few years is. Paul is changing boxing for the better, because he is bringing in new approaches to the sport that often presents awful match-ups that stagnant the sport, not grow it.
Despite Tyron Woodley looking utterly disinterested for most of the fight, Woodley proved a ripe foil for Paul, as he landed an iconic right hand that could’ve dropped Paul, but the ropes kept him upright.
Now the question is – where does Jake Paul go from here, and do people continue to pay $60 per fight?
Celebrity boxing was a big thing at the turn of the millennium, but has been repackaged, and rebranded to fit the modern era. Paul is a more interesting and better version of Eric “Butterbean” Esch and Kimbo Slice, with a media platform that is larger than the networks creating the telecast.
Amanda Serrano Gets Proper Praise
Amanda Serrano has long since been one of the best fighters in the world, but boxing has never fully embraced women’s boxing, and beyond that, she has never quite found a network to fully get behind her. Signed with DiBella Entertainment, Serrano has danced between DAZN, Ring City USA on NBC Sports Network, amongst other outlets, but it seems Jake Paul may have taken a liking to her skills, and gave her a huge paycheck, and a co-main event spot.
Serrano is a legend in the sport, and it is nice to see her getting the respect she has earned.
Now we just want to see Serrano in her generational fight.
Montana Love!
Montana Love stopped a former world champion in Ivan Baranchyk in the seventh round after dropping him, famed boxing coach Pedro Diaz stopped the bout in the corner.
Love, a talented fighter, not unlike a theme of the card has had trouble securing TV dates, as Love has been mostly featured in hard fights on ShoBox: The Next Generation. This was a definitive win that at the very least will get Montana Love more dates on television, and more than likely a six-figure payday that could change his life.
With Josh Taylor in the near future, potentially leaving the division, we could soon live in a world in which all four of the belts in the division are vacant. Prior to this bout, Love wasn’t ranked in the top-15 of any of the four major sanctioning bodies as based on my research looking at the fight rankings on FightNews.com.
Charles Conwell
Probably the most talented fighter on the card, 2016 Olympian Charles Conwell, picked up a 3rd round knockout of Juan Rubio on the undercard. The disappointing aspect was that Showtime chooses not to televise the bout on social media or show it on its pay-per-view telecast.
Conwell, who I feel is the best 154 lbs fighter in the world, is looking towards major fights in the future, and putting forth a dominant performance, where he looked as sharp as ever, while relentlessly beating his opponent, was impressive.
Tommy Fury
Tommy Fury won a rather lackluster decision over Anthony Taylor to start the telecast. Fury, who is an attractive man, with the Fury last name feels like a terrority pro wrestler, who has good lucks, and will brand the moniker of a generational great fighter, his brother Tyson Fury, in hopes of finding stardom himself. I don’t see Tommy Fury going much farther than these types of platforms, and I think that a potential bout with Jake Paul might not happen just yet as his performance was rather uninspired. Fury is very young in the game.
Club Show Results
Anthony Yarde Wins Via First-Round KO.
Not much to say here, but light heavyweight U.K. fighter Anthony Yarde won via a first-round KO.
Ty Tomlin
Ty Tomlin, who is signed to DiBella Entertainment, picked up a fifth-round stoppage of Ira Terry in a regional card. Tomlin is a massive ticket seller, that many in the industry have high hopes for. Also, one of the best amateurs in the country, Harley Mederos won his pro debut on this card. Mederos is a future world champion.
Cain Sandoval Now Pro
Sacramento, Ca’s Cain Sandoval, who trains with Marcus Caballero for his professional career, made it a short night getting a first-round knockout in his pro debut, at The Hangar in Costa Mesa, California.
Najee Lopez
The most interesting American cruiserweight since Andrew Tabiti, Najee Lopez, turned pro, and needed only one round to get the victory, as he got a first-round stoppage.
Angel Perez
I am all in on Angel Perez of PA, being a solid, fun-fighter as a pro. Perez got a second-round KO in Mexico this weekend, and is 3-0, with 3 KOs. Perez will be a good TV fighter.
Sad Stuff.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CTK1JUDvMbr/
Please watch this Instagram video from above.
Kazuto Ioka beats Francisco Rodriguez Jr.
The sad truth is very few follow the smaller weights, but that being said, Kazuto Ioka is having an all-time great-like year, as he did not just beat Kosei Tanaka on New Year’s Eve last year, but now defeated Francisco Rodriguez Jr. as well.
It is important to note that Ioka was also cleared of any PED violations as well.
Ioka is the WBO super flyweight world champion and has made three defenses of his belt.
This Week’s Fight Schedule
Mauricio Lara vs Josh Warrington II
Saturday, September 4th, 11 AM PST, DAZN
The Leeds Warrior, Josh Warrington was knocked out by largely unknown Mauricio Lara after underdog victories against Lee Selby and Carl Frampton in 2018, which caused Warrington to be viewed as a folklore-type hero in U.K. boxing. Warrington’s career is on the line as he looks for redemption against Lara.
Katie Taylor vs. Jennifer Han
Katie Taylor is looking more and more vulnerable after each and every fight, and Jennifer Han, who has spent time in many professional camps, including Mikala Mayer’s camp at times, will look to pull off the upset. The one thing of note is that whether it was the two Delfine Persoon fights or her bout with Tasha Jonas, Taylor is not knocking the doors down, and separating herself from her opposition, which you would hope to see from a generational fighter, and Irish icon.
Conor Benn vs Adrian Granados
Conor Benn will more than likely be the next U.K. PPV fighter, and after his first-round KO of Samuel Vargas, Benn will look to have similar success against Granados, a fighter who had his best wins coming at a weight class lower and is in the twilight of his career. Benn is the son of Nigel Benn, and a fighter who after a shaky bout a few years ago, recommitted to the sport. The interesting comparison will be between Conor Benn and Pat McCormack as the two could be fighting for stardom in a similar weight class.
Another Of Note
Hopey Price is a featherweight, who is being fast-tracked and thought of as one of the best fighters coming out of the U.K. currently, and will be on the undercard in a six-round fight. Within, three-to-four fights, we could see Price in a ten-round bout.
Jesus Ramos Jr. vs. Brian Mendoza,
Sunday, September 5th, FOX – 5 PM PST
A week before the NFL season starts, red-hot homegrown PBC prospect Jesus Ramos Jr will graduate into a main eventer on PBC on Fox taking on Brian Mendoza, a big-puncher, who is not far removed from being thought of as a prospect, and trains with Ismael Salas.
Ramos Jr. looks the part of a capital G Guy and is facing Mendoza, who was set to face former world champion Julian “J-Rock” Williams before Williams was injured. This will also be Ramos Jr.’s first bout that I have seen him listed at 154 lbs.
In short, Ramos is someone to watch and is a future world champion.
Starling Castillo vs. Juan Carlos Burgos
Starling Castillo just picked up a massive KO win over Miguel “Caveman” Contreras and is a very good fighter signed to Sampson Lewkowicz. This should be a showcase to display Castillo’s talents to the world.
Armando Resendiz vs. Marcos Hernandez
Armando Resendiz is a tough Mexican fighter, working with boxing royalty, Bob Santos, taking on a great fighter in his own right from the Fresno, California area, Marcos Hernandez. Resendiz just beat via split-decision Quilisto Madera in his U.S. debut, and despite being young, looks to be on a fast-track to get into position for some big fights. Hernandez is a game-spoiler and has the potential to derail those plans, as well.
Undercard
Very solid and tough Kyrone Davis will be in action on the undercard as well, as Ruben Guerrero trained Justin Cardona, and former #1 seed at the 2019 Olympic Trials Michael Angeletti, who I have circled as someone to watch for over the course of the next two-to-three years.
Club Shows
“The Hebrew Hammer” Cletus Seldin, a mainstay of the New York boxing scene, will return on FITE.TV on a New York card. He has a good record and should get a chance against a name guy soon.
MMA Not In 500 Words Or Less
UFC Results
Giga Chikadaze made a name for himself this week stopping Edson Barboza in the third round of their bout.
Ricky Turcios, stole the show getting a split decision win over Gilbert Urbina to win The Ultimate Fighter reality show final. Turcios is a zany fighter we seemingly used to get in abundance in MMA, that has not been here for a while, and seems like a lock to be a UFC star. Turcios brawled took the punishment, took chances, and more so might have stolen our hearts in the process. This bout reminded me of Forrest Griffin versus Stephan Bonnar I, and felt like the emergence of a young generational talent.
Daniel Rodriguez defeated Kevin Lee as well, as Rodriguez looks to be a fighter with main event status coming to his near future. A good kickboxer, who is strong, and a bit older, will more than likely be willing to fight anyone in the top-15 to try to get to meaningful fights.
Invicta Results
The lovable all-women’s MMA promotion, Invicta FC, which has been huge for the growth of equity in women’s combat sports, saw Emily Ducote seemingly landed the KO of the Year on their event that was staged on Friday. Great stuff, you can watch above.
UFC
Saturday, September 4th – ESPN+ 1 PM PST
Darren Till vs Derek Brunson
Darren Till is a big puncher who many felt was going to be a world champion until losses to Tyron Woodley, Jorge Masvidal (a win that saw Masvidal become a star), and Robert Whittaker have derailed those plans. Till at the crossroads faces Brunson, is riding a four-fight win streak with a win over Kevin Holland. This is will create a UFC title contender in the near future. Despite the early start time, the event is happening at the UFC Apex Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
