Tyron Woodley got an “I love Jake Paul” tattoo on his left middle finger, as part of the wager he and Paul agreed to before and after their boxing match last month. Woodley posted a photo of the tattoo on his Instagram on Monday.
“I love you son,” Woodley wrote. “Now come and get this a– whippin cause i heard you been talking back to your elders.”
Paul told ESPN two weeks ago that Woodley had eliminated himself from the running to be Paul’s next opponent because he did not get the tattoo. Woodley was angling for a rematch, and in the aftermath of their Aug. 29 fight — won by Paul via split decision — Paul said he’d grant the rematch if Woodley got the tattoo. Woodley agreed and they shook hands on it.
Woodley getting the tattoo now puts him back in play for the rematch, Woodley’s manager Malki Kawa of First Round Management told ESPN.
The tattoo bet first came up at a news conference in July. Both men agreed verbally that the loser would get a tattoo somewhere on their body reading that they love the winner. Paul even brought a tattoo artist to the fight in order to get some ink done immediately after they both left the ring.
But after the bout Paul’s team said they would only consider doing the rematch if Woodley got the tattoo. Woodley’s team wanted something more firm that that, so it did not happen immediately.
“If he would have gotten the tattoo right away, got 10 million views on his Instagram video, [then] everyone would have been super hyped, there would have been a ton of press around it,” Paul told ESPN two weeks ago. “And I would have been sort of forced to do it. I couldn’t really deny him then, because if he’s going to be a man of his word, then I have to be a man of my word. So, he f—– up. He missed out on another big payday because of his ego.”
Woodley, though, is now back in play, especially with Paul at a public impasse with potential opponent Tommy Fury, Tyson’s half-brother, which he posted a video about last week. Paul said Fury, an undefeated boxer and reality show celebrity in the United Kingdom, has declined two offers to make the boxing match happen, including one for $1 million.
“To everybody out there, $1 million for a fight of this magnitude is not even worth getting out of bed for,” Fury told Boxing Scene. “This fight is going to gross millions and millions of pounds. I cannot walk down the street without anybody asking me, ‘When are you fighting Jake Paul,’ so until you want to make a serious offer and put it on the table, we can’t think about fighting, pal.”
With Woodley getting the tattoo and negotiations with Fury not going smoothly, it could open up the door for Paul vs. Woodley 2. In an Instagram story, Paul poked fun at Woodley, writing he only got the tattoo after his accountant told him how much he owed in taxes on his fight purse.