Tommy Fury floored by Jake Paul, but gets up to WIN by split decision and talk turned towards a rematch and even KSI fight
Tommy Fury beat Jake Paul by split decision, which ended his unbeaten run as a professional boxer on Sunday night in Saudi Arabia.
Despite being knocked down the final round of the eight-round fight, the Brit got up to win on points and celebrated wildly, while also welcoming a rematch with the American and looking to another YouTuber.
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The fight began with a scrappy opening round as very few clean punches landed.
Paul found a home for a couple of overhand rights while Fury had some success with his jabs and an aggressive combination in the final seconds, but the first saw a lot of clinching by both men.
In round two, Fury controlled the tempo with his jab while Paul struggled to adjust and counter effectively.
When Paul launched attacks, Fury fired back quickly with his own right hand.
Paul began well in the third as he returned the favour by snapping Fury's head back with a couple of strong jabs.
The American hammered the Brit with a hard overhand right towards the end of the round.
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In the break, Jake's brother Logan Paul was interviewed and said over the loudspeaker system: "Tommy Fury if you can hear me, you're a b***, you're gassing out."
Fury responded by going on the attack at the start of round four and briefly overwhelmed Paul.
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Paul came on strong at the end of the session though, before Fury clubbed him with a shot to the back of the head while they were in a clinch.
As they started the second half of their eight-rounder, both men appeared to be tiring and clinched a lot through the fifth.
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Then the referee got tired of this and deducted a point from Paul for his actions during the clinch, seemingly for holding or punching behind the back of Fury's head.
This stirred a response from the American who briefly appeared to hurt the Brit with a hard jab.
In round six, a lot of fatigue appeared to be setting in.
Following further clinching, the referee took a point from Fury evening things up on that front.
The action continued to be scrappy in the seventh with Fury seeming to get the better of things.
Despite this, he came away with a bad cut as the pair clashed heads towards the end of the session.
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All of a sudden in the eighth and final round, Paul floored Fury with a counter jab which caught the Brit off balance.
He bounced back to his feet and fought on to the final bell without trouble, but lost the last session 10-8 regardless.
As the final bell rang, nobody appeared to know who had won.
The judges' scorecards were read out: 75-74 Paul, 76-73 Fury and 76-73 Fury, declaring the Brit victorious by split decision.
“All respect to Tommy, I will come back, I think we deserve the rematch," Paul said afterwards as he reflected on his defeat.
“I am not sure I agree with the judges, I got at least two 10-8 rounds,” he added before pointing to what may have caused his loss.
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“I have already won in life, in every single way. I have amazing friends and family.
“This is a humbling experience but I will get back in the gym and we will be back.
“I felt flat in there, I was really sick twice in this camp and I hurt my arm.
“I am not making excuses but I was not 100 per cent.
“We want to run it back.”
Fury, meanwhile, was pleased to have the pressure on him to win lifted.
“This, to me, is a world title fight… we did it! We did it.
“There were a lot of nerves going into this… if he wants a rematch, bring it on.”
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And in his post-fight press conference, he even said KSI could share the ring with him after being told about his reaction to his win.
"If KSI wants a fight - he's no Jake Paul and I'll take that no problem," he said with dad John suggesting it will take place in Saudi Arabia.