Tommy Fury waited years to get Jake Paul in the ring and on Sunday finally solved the Jake Paul problem. Even despite being knocked down in the eighth round, Fury won the highly-anticipated bout by split decision (74-75, 76-73, 76-73 ) at Diriyah Arena in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia.
Fury outboxed his opponent throughout and was able to keep the pressure on Paul up until the final bell.
“This is my first main event,” Fury said. “I’m only gonna go stronger, I’m gonna go bigger, I’m only gonna go better. … if he wants a rematch, bring it on.”
Paul, who did say he would like a rematch in his post-fight interview, came into the fight with 6 victories, but couldn’t find a win in his first fight against a true boxer.
“This is definitely a humbling experience,” said Paul after the fight. “I’ll take it on the chin and we can run it back.”
Paul and Fury originally were scheduled to fight in December 2021, but a rib injury forced Fury out of the bout. Then they were supposed to square off Aug. 6, 2022, but Fury was denied entry into the U.S.
Here’s how Marc Raimondi recapped the action as it happened, with the full fight recap still to come.