Jake
Paul has just earned some respect on his name.
The main attraction of the MVP and Showtime pay-per-view boxing
card came in a 187-pound cruiserweight affair, one in which Paul
(6-0, 4 KO) proved he has the wherewithal to stand and trade with a
legendary striker in the boxing ring. “The Problem Child” picked up
a decision victory over the ex-Ultimate Fighting Championship great Anderson
Silva (3-2, 2 KO). Paul vs. Silva began with a tentative first
round, one where the two engaged in practically three minutes of a
feeling-out process, led to Silva landing two punches – although
one made Paul lick his gloves and demand more. After downloading
data in the opening minutes, Silva picked things up in the second
frame, backing Paul up with several powerful blows. Paul responded
with a few clean right hooks, but Silva barely registered their
landing. Although Silva pressed forward aggressively in Round 3,
Paul showed a composure beyond his years by scoring several heavy,
looping punches while Silva kept him honest by slugging right
back.
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Even at the age of 47, Silva still displayed plenty of the footwork
and elusiveness that made him one of the all-time greats in MMA. A
bloody nose from the Paul shots did not deter or slow him, even as
Paul continued to load up and swing with bad intentions as the
close fight progressed through the fourth round. The youngster
maintained an even clip while not punching himself out despite
missing frequently with haymakers. After the midpoint of the match,
Silva turned up the volume, where he started backing Paul up to the
corner and working the body and head indiscriminately. In the sixth
stanza, the action slowed significantly as the pace seemed to get
the better of the two, and they remained largely relegated to short
bursts of activity followed by lengthy lulls. The waning seconds
brought a sudden flurry from Silva, with the uppercuts of “The
Spider” his best weapons.
.@jakepaul
sends Silva to the canvas in the final round 😮#PaulSilva
pic.twitter.com/mO6Tdw4wy1— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing)
October 30, 2022
The penultimate round seemed to be where the 47-year-old hit a
wall, as his work rate fell significantly while Paul’s youthful
exuberance was on full display. The body shots from Paul began to
pay off, as Silva – who had not acknowledged many absorbed blows
earlier in the match – started to visibly react to them. Sensing he
might be down on the scorecards, Silva came out in Round 8 with a
vengeance, chasing Paul down and throwing hammers. Paul sat down on
one crisp counter right hand, dropping Silva in the most
significant moment of the fight. Silva beat the count from referee
Wes Melton and looked no worse for wear, and he went back to
pushing the action. The work Silva did could not make up for the
knockdown as time expired, sealing the likely victory for the
unbeaten 25-year-old. The three ringside judges issued scores of
77-74, 78-73 and 78-73, with Paul earning the hard-fought unanimous
decision win. Six bouts into his professional boxing career, Paul
has topped two UFC champs in the ring as well as a former Bellator MMA titleholder, and he subsequently called
for a matchup against another UFC name in fan-favorite Nate
Diaz.
Flurry at the end of
#HallBell 🔥Order
#PaulSilva: https://t.co/O9cjsgnpf0 pic.twitter.com/Vuwr3rwPXS— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing)
October 30, 2022
Former UFC middleweight contender Uriah Hall
left the sport of MMA to test the waters in boxing, and he met
former NFL running back Le’Veon Bell in a cruiserweight match
between crossover boxing debutants. Ultimately, Hall (1-0, 0 KO)
landed the heavier blows to outwork Bell (0-1, 0 KO) across four
slow, plodding rounds. The first two frames played out remarkably
similar, with Bell drifting in and out with herky-jerky movement
and ducking down to jab the body repeatedly. Hall slowly walked
Bell down during those rounds, landing the occasional power punch
while ignoring anything that came his way.
In Round 3, Hall picked things up in the early stages of the
period, only for the ex-NFL star to shock him with a few overhand
rights that forced Hall to clinch up. Neither man could completely
shed their past disciplines, as Hall received multiple warnings by
referee Tony Zaino for elbows, while Bell used multiple shoulder
checks to ram himself into the chest of his opponent. The fatigued
men threw down in the final minute of their four-round affair,
silencing the boo birds that had echoed throughout the building for
most of their encounter. Hall secured three 40-36 scorecards to
claim the unanimous decision and earn his first pro boxing victory.
Like most former MMA fighters in searching of a money fight, Hall
called out Paul in his post-fight interview.
Elsewhere on the main card, Ashton Sylve (8-0, 8 KO) blew through
Braulio Rodriguez (20-5, 17 KO) in 61 seconds to put a stamp on
their lightweight co-main event match; Alejandro Santiago (27-3-5,
14 KO) forced Antonio Nieves’ (20-4-2, 11 KO) corner to step in and
halt their bantamweight rematch at the conclusion of Round 7; the
pay-per-view opened with former UFC featherweight Chris Avila
(2-1, 0 KO) moving all the way up to cruiserweight, where he shut
out YouTuber “Dr. Mike” Mikhail Varshavski (0-1, 0 KO) across four
one-sided rounds and earning three matching 40-36 scores.