Paul vs Silva: Jake Paul wins via unanimous decision
After months of anticipation, Jake Paul has come out on top in his fight against Anderson Silva. The Problem Child picked up the win via unanimous decision, only the second time that he has gone the distance in his career.
The three judges scored the fight 78-73, 77-74 and 78-73 in favor of Paul to give him the win. Paul is now 6-0 to start his boxing career.
After an uneventful round one, both fighters started trading punches for seven rounds straight. The two boxers were able to stay on their feet up until the eighth round when the 25-year-old was able to knock Silva to the mat.
Silva, who also goes by the nickname Spider, got back up and didn't seem phased by the moment. For the remaining two minutes of the final round, the 47-year-old tried his best get his final blows in.
Paul was impressed.
"We were just fighting in the clinch and he got caught on the way out. He took so many hard shots throughout the whole fight. The dude is a real dog. You see what happens to everyone else that gets hit with that. He’s the toughest guy in the world but I just wanted it more. I’m a real dog and I left it all in the ring," said Paul.
Unfortunately for Silva, his last second efforts were not enough to get the win.
Paul dominated Silva in the jabs category. The Problem Child threw 140 more jabs than Silva and landed 32 of them. The Spider threw 66 power punches, but Paul was able to land them at a higher percentage.
With his win, Paul will cash in on his bet that he made with Silva on Thursday at the final press conference. Both fighters will come together to create a fighter's association for all MMA athletes. Paul says that this group will advocate for better pay and long-term health care of fighters.
In his post-fight interview, Paul revealed he who wants to fight next.
"This is just the start. I want Nate Diaz. Canelo, you too. You guys said, ‘You can’t beat a striker, you can’t beat a legend like Anderson Silva.’ I just did it. So why can’t I beat Canelo?”
Diaz, who was in attendance Saturday night to support fighters he trains with, just got out of his UFC contract and is now considered a free agent.
Despite the loss Silva is still looking forward to fighting.
"Absolutely, I’m going to continue fighting. Nobody can stop me except God.”
The Spider already has his next fight set up. He is competing in a jiu jitsu tournament in Dubai next month.
Before the Paul-Silva fight there were four other matches that were a part of the main card.
The co-main event of the night was between Braulio Rodriguez and Ashton Sylve in an eight-round lightweight matchup.
The 18-year-old Sylve brought the fireworks early as he knocked out Rodriguez a minute into the first round. The first signee of Paul's Most Valuable Promotions extends his knockout streak to eight to start his career.
The knockout wasn't the only notable thing that Sylve did in his short time in the ring. The Long Beach native got into the Halloween spirit as he walked out in a minion costume from the movie Despicable Me.
"I love the movie Minions. But at the same time, it’s inspirational. You never would think the Minions do what they do. And I don’t think people would think an 18-year-old would come out here and put a performance on like this with a veteran, experienced fighter," said Sylve.
The Sylve-Rodriguez fight was the second of two between experienced boxers. The first was Antonio Nieves taking on Alexsandro Santiago in a 10-round junior bantamweight match.
After seven rounds, Santiago was awarded a technical knockout after Nieves's corner suggested for the fight to stop.
This was the second time that these two boxers faced off against each other. In their previous match, Santiago and Nieves fought to a draw. This is Nieves's 27th career win and arguably his biggest.
"Yes, this was the biggest win of my career so far. It feels great. This was the biggest card I’ve fought on and it was just great fighting on this event here tonight,” said Santiago in his post-fight interview.
The two fights to start the main card were between boxers that were less experienced, and each bout lasted four rounds.
Veteran MMA fighter Chris Avila started off the night with a unanimous decision win against social media influencer Dr. Mike Varshavski. This win was 29-year-old's ninth career boxing victory in 18 tries.
Former UFC fighter Uriah Hall won the following bout via unanimous decision as well. The 38-year-old picked up the win in his professional boxing debut against former NFL running back Le'Veon Bell who was also making his debut.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Jake Paul beats Anderson Silva via unanimous decision
