(Reuters) — Jake Paul suffered the first loss of his fledgling boxing career when he was outpointed by Tommy Fury at Saudi Arabia’s Diriyah Arena on Sunday, with the British reality star winning a split decision over the American social media figure.
Under the watchful eye of personalities such as Tyson, Fury’s stepbrother and current WBC heavyweight champion, former champion Mike Tyson and soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo, who recently signed for the Saudi club Al Nassr, Paul’s considerable shortcomings became clear. when Fury outboxed them over eight rounds.
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“Tonight I have left my own legacy, I have left my own legacy,” Fury declared, finally stepping out of the shadow of his illustrious family of fighters. “During these two and a half years I have had a dream, a vision, and no one has believed me. Now you can stand up and take note,” he added.
Fury was the best in the early rounds, but Paul began to settle in the third, in which he tried to lure his opponent and counter him with powerful right hands.
In a technically subpar bout, Paul suffered when a point was deducted in the fifth round for a blow to the back of the neck from Fury, but Fury was also deducted a point for a holding in the sixth to even things up again.
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A short left hand dropped Fury in the eighth and final round as both went for a knockout that never materialized.
“All respect to Tommy, he won, don’t judge me by my wins, judge me by my losses. I’ll be back, I think I deserve the rematch, it’s been a great fight, a close fight,” Paul said in the ring, while his record boxing was reduced to six wins and one loss.