As things stand, YouTuber-turned-pro boxer Jake Paul defeated his idol, mixed martial artist, boxer and ex-Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champion in the middleweight category, Anderson Silva.
Both Paul and Silva shared moments of immense respect towards each other in press conferences prior and after the match, which is a rather rare occurrence between boxers during their meetings. When asked about the estimated number of rounds required to knock out his opponent by a silver-haired female fan of Paul’s, he predicted amusingly that no less than five rounds were needed; He probably would not expect a tough fight from his 47-year-old opponent Anderson Silva.
25-year-old Paul went into the game with a 5-0 record in his boxing career, and looked forward to defeating the UFC legend to continue his winning streak. Nonetheless, his 6th career win did not come easy as Anderson Silva defied Father Time and competed for eight full three-minute rounds, only to be defeated by Paul with unanimous decisions and scores of 77-74 and 78-73 (Twice). The highlight in the match was when Paul knocked down Silva in the final round.
“The Problem Child” Goes 6-0 After Defeating a Pro Boxer
With this win, Jake Paul goes 6-0 and remains undefeated in his boxing career; Each win proves his doubters wrong, and that his adventurous endeavour into the boxing world pays off. In his own words, Paul said that, “It’s a surreal moment. Hard work pays off. I want to say thank you to Anderson. He was my idol growing up and he inspired me to be great. Without him, we wouldn’t have a fight this year. He’s a tough mofo, like for real. I have a lot of respect for him.”
The social media influencer had always been in the limelight for both the good and bad reasons, an instance of the latter is criticism over him not fighting any professional boxers in his matches, and that condemnation was swept away immediately with the win against a boxing legend like Anderson Silva.
Has Jake Paul Earned His Respects?
The answer is a resounding yes! As every match goes by, Jake Paul’s movement and punches get cleaner and cleaner; It is almost impossible to tell the difference between a boxing practitioner and him at a single glance. But respect should also be given to the Brazil native Anderson “The Spider” Silva for battling almost half an hour against an opponent that is old enough to be his son.
Silva mentioned, “I worked hard to do a special show for everybody here. I say thank you to everyone who comes. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose but I continue training hard because I was born for this.”
The bout that took place on 29th October 2022 (Saturday) at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona is among the highest grossing combat sports events in the history of the named venue.
(Photo Credits: Bad Left Hook)
