In what may end up being the biggest pay-per-view event of the year, Jake Paul looks to improve his record to 4-0 since moving to boxing against former UFC Champion Tyron Woodley. Paul and Woodley have gotten the full-court press from a media standpoint from Showtime Sports with All Access and All Access daily giving them the rub as they head towards a collision in Paul’s hometown of Cleveland this Sunday.
Jake Paul vs. Tyron Woodley Preview
Tensions have been tense since the beginning when this fight was announced the day before the Floyd Mayweather and Logan Paul bout back in June of this year. The trash talk has been intense, it has gotten personal, and now tensions seem to be boiling over after the press conference yesterday.
We have Tyron Woodley’s momma all upset now, we have Jake Paul’s mom trying to mend bridges, and all the while both men seem to have built something special that will come to a head at the Rocket Mortage Fieldhouse.
Disney Kid to Boxing Superstar
No matter how you feel about Jake Paul you can’t deny or disrespect the hustle he has shown in the sport of boxing since jumping into it full time. He has not yet been tested by anyone since making the jump, however, mostly due to him not facing any true punchers, and even if he knocks out Woodley the doubters will say “Well he was a wrestler in MMA!” and while that’s true it would be a world champion on his resume.
Paul and his brother Logan built media empires from their content on various platforms such as Vine and YouTube which demonstrates the work ethic both men have. Jake discussed this during media day this past week when he was asked about how serious boxing is as a sport and how the grind is something different:
“Boxing is a 24-7 job. The training camp – sleep, eat, recovery, no partying, no distractions – all of that type of stuff makes it the hardest thing I’ve done in my life. Plus, the promotional side of it. I’ve probably done 75 interviews in the past three weeks. It’s non-stop.”
The media part is easy for Paul and so far he has made the boxing part look that way as well.
He has surrounded himself with a team of former and current pros such as J’Leon Love, who is a former Mayweather protege, and former cruiserweight title contender BJ Flores. Both men have helped make the Paul brothers what they are as boxers today with Jake being the prize pupil thus far. If Jake Paul can score a knockout over the former UFC champion the sky could truly be the limit for him as he seeks to make boxing the sport of kings it once was.
Ferguson, Missouri is Looking to Make an Impact
One of the proudest things Tyron Woodley has always held on to is not his UFC title belts or his accolades he racked up as a wrestler at the University of Missouri, it’s the fact he hails from Ferguson, Missouri. A city outside of St. Louis was the center of the world’s eye as it dealt with the fallout from the Michael Brown shooting and it was at that moment Tyron Woodley knew what he had to use his platform for.
Woodley would use this as motivation to better his MMA career as he would eventually go on to claim the UFC welterweight title against Robbie Lawler and would defend his title four times before relinquishing it to the current champ Kamaru Usman. Along the way through in his MMA career he racked up six knockouts via punches so he has the power to make things interesting come Sunday, he talked about his boxing in MMA and how training with Floyd Mayweather prepped him for this weekend:
“The times I worked with Floyd [Mayweather], he was very vocal. You couldn’t do nothing wrong. And that’s what makes him so great. In MMA we overdo it a lot, but it doesn’t always transition into power. It doesn’t always transition into accuracy. He gave me the foundation of how he beat everyone he did.”
Mayweather has a motivation of his own in getting a win over Jake Paul after the hat situation that went down at the press conference for his brother bout against the all-time great.
This is a Real Boxing Match, Don’t Doubt It
The Paul brothers built a media empire, now brother Jake Paul looks to be the king of a boxing one using their legacy as a launching pad.
Tyron Woodley has a career built on the foundation of an MMA and wrestling career that now looks to make an appearance in the boxing ring while building a media career of his own on the side.
The biggest thing to remember come Sunday is that this is a real test for both men, both men looking to build new legacies led by legendary men and with strong motherly presence supporting them step on the journey to victory in Cleveland.
Main Image:
