Love him or hate him, Jake Paul (4-0, 3 KOs) knows how to box. In his previous three fights, he has shown the ability to knock out overmatched opposition. Now though, he has proved to the world he could box at higher levels with his split decision victory over Tyron Woodley (0-1, 0 KOs).

The First Half of the Fight

Jake Paul opened the fight by boxing well from the outside and utilizing his genuinely good footwork to keep the shorter Tyron Woodley at range. Woodley had a heigh and reach disadvantage, so it was incumbent upon him to close the distance and make the fight.

Paul used an effective jab as well as a few other punches in his arsenal, such as the overhand right and the check left hook all while using his footwork to keep Woodley from getting set.

Woodley looked like a powerful wrestler doing his best at boxing, which is exactly what he is. He chased Paul around the ring and eventually landed his vaunted right hand at the end of the 3rd round. In round 4, Woodley landed the punch for the 2nd time, along with a few left hooks, and he appeared to have Paul seriously hurt.

Paul survived the round but lost the first round of his professional career.

The Second Half

In the second half of the fight, Jake Paul assumed the role of the boxer while Woodley stalked him around the ring. Even though he seemed to have trouble getting his legs under him, Paul controlled most of the exchanges.

Woodley was hesitant to throw punches, and his inactivity let Paul win rounds at the end of his jab. The inexperienced Paul continually took in big gulps of air between exchanges while Woodley never appeared to breathe heavy. The deep breaths reflect on Paul's inexperience (as he would forget to breathe in a constant and relaxed fashion) but not on his conditioning, which allowed him to finish and win the fight.

After eight rounds, Jake Paul won a split decision with scorecards of 78-74, 77-75, and 75-77.

The 75-77 scorecard did not reflect the fight, but this is boxing, so it is nothing surprising.

The Rest of the Card

Paul and Woodley headlined the Showtime PPV card, but there were several notable fights boxing fans got to see.

The co-main event featured one of the top female pound-for-pound fighters today, Amanda Serrano (41-1-1, 30 KOs) defended her WBC and WBO featherweight (126 lbs) titles against the game but outmatched Yamileth Mercado (18-3, 5 KOs). Serrano dominated the fight with her crisp and efficient boxing as well as some vicious body punches.

In the 10th and final round, she caught Mercado with a lead right hook that rocked her, but the brave Mexican battled on to see the final bell.

English heavyweight Daniel Dubois (17-1, 16 KOs) won his 2nd straight fight after being stopped by domestic rival Joe Joyce with a 1st round knockout over Joe Cusumano (19-4, 17 KOs). Cusumano had never been stopped, but Dubois had no intentions of making it a long night. He hurt Cusumano with several right hands and almost as soon as the fight began, it was over.

Cleveland native Montana Love (16-0-1, 8 KOs) stopped the rugged Ivan Baranchyk (20-3, 13 KOs). Love controlled distance well until Baranchyk landed hard shots in the 3rd. Love appeared to go down but the referee did not give a count. This occurred for the 2nd time in the round and right as the ref went to separate the fighters (who began to clinch), Love landed a right hand that wobbled Baranchyk.

Baranchyk never seemed to recover from that shot and he appeared to get more and more hurt as the fight continued. Eventually, his wild chasing caught up to him as Love landed a mean left uppercut that put the Russian down. He would make it back to his stool where his trainers would stop the fight.

Tommy Fury (7-0, 4 KOs) opened the PPV with a 4-round unanimous decision over Aaron Taylor (0-2, 0 KOs). The fight was uneventful, and Fury largely cruised his way to a decision before calling out Jake Paul.

A Note on These Events

Events like these are a controversial topic because fans view them as not being true events. Many people don't like that a former Youtuber like Jake Paul gets so much recognition while more talented fighters still put everything on the line for a chance at glory.

However, it is important to note that attention and recognition are not zero-sum; Jake Paul drawing in viewers does not take away attention from the "true" boxers. The truth is quite the opposite, as whether he means to or not, he uses his fame to secure a bigger following and bigger paydays for the real fighters on the card.

Today more people know who Amanda Serrano is and how great of a fighter she is. The same is true for Ivan Baranchyk, Daniel Dubois, Steve Cunningham, Frank Mir, Regis Prograis, etc... Non-boxing fans know some of these names because these fighters fought on Paul's platform.

Most importantly, if fans are more interested in a Jake Paul fight than some world title bouts, neither the boxers nor the fans are to blame. Those who deserve the blame are those who stand in the way of putting together competitive and entertaining matchups. Until then, Jake Paul will have his place in the sweet science.