Jake Paul defrosts Mike Tyson for an eight-round walkabout
Plus, Zurdo beats down brave CBS in Saudi
If I had a pound for every time a non-boxing friend or acquaintance asked me if I was watching “The Fight” at the weekend, I’d have made about…six quid. But the point is, aside from the usual hardcore circles I frequent on a daily basis (hazard of the trade, you’ll understand), nobody is usually the slightest bit interested in the ‘orrible sport of boxing.
Image Credit: SuperSport
The fight they were referencing was the Netflix event in Texas on Friday night, during which Jake Paul defrosted Mike Tyson, danced around him for eight tedious sessions and occasionally tonked Mike with hard enough shots to win a unanimous decision.
At 58, Tyson’s legs had unsurprisingly stopped working in any athletic capacity. Huffing and puffing, ambling around the ring, the former Baddest Man on the Planet rebranded himself as the Saddest Man on the Planet as thousands of phoney fight fans hooped and hollered at the ritual sacrifice taking place.
Paul even stopped at the end to bow in a show of deference to what the man in front of him once was. Jake is a salesman. He knows how to push buttons and generate numbers. The 27-year-old YouTuber from Ohio is a lot like Floyd Mayweather. No, seriously, bear with me for a second…
Paul knows how to load the dice, so he is always at an advantage. Every opponent is carefully curated (even Tommy Fury) and he makes sure he has the best possible chance of prevailing. The man is a powerhouse of getting what he wants. That’s the true power he brings to the sport. A fact that will not have gone unnoticed by the cretinous sanctioning bodies.
All of a sudden, one ranking win opens up a vacant title, and before you know it, Paul is boxing an opponent poor enough that he can defeat yet credible enough to pass by the slimmest of margins as a world-level challenger. Suddenly, this carnival king snared an actual world title! I’m telling you, this is boxing, and stranger things have happened.
Zurdo too cute for gusty Billam-Smith
Meanwhile, a day later in Riyadh, Oscar De La Hoya brought Latino Night to Saudi and there were some exciting scraps on offer. In the main event, Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez added Chris Billam-Smith’s WBO cruiserweight title to his own WBA strap, unifying titles and taking one skip closer to crowning an undisputed champion.
Ramirez looks flabby for cruiserweight and lacks the pop of old, but his footwork and punch picking were too swift for Billam-Smith, who trades on toughness and lacks the nuance to match his heart over 12 rounds.
Image Credit: Sporting News
William Zepeda raised a few red flags ahead of his potential WBC fight with Shakur Stevenson, expected in 2025. Veteran Tevin Farmer was supposed to be a stylistic dress rehearsal for Shakur. Instead, he served up 10 rounds of trouble, dropping a below-par Zepeda in round four and landing more than a few concerning combinations.
Oscar Collazo was too big and too strong for long-reigning, yet grossly inactive, WBA minimumweight champion Thammanoon Niyomtrong. The Thai boxer was fighting just to stay in it. Once WBO king Collazo got the measure of his man, it became a massacre, ending mercifully for “CP Freshmart” in round seven.
In the other notable bout, Oscar Duarte won by decision over Batyr Akhmedov. The fight was competitive throughout, and I thought the Uzbek had done enough to edge it out. However, the three judges saw it differently.
About Steve…
Current existence: Online editor at Boxing News Magazine.
Previous lives: Author (8 books), podcaster (500+ eps), scriptwriter for Motivedia channel, newspaper journalist, copywriter & educator.
Contact: stevenwellings1982@gmail.com