Jake Paul was up on all three judges scorecards before dropping Anderson Silva in the final round of their fight.
YouTuber-turned-boxer Paul, 25, won a unanimous decision against the 47-year-old UFC legend after eight hard-fought rounds, extending his unbeaten record to six professional fights. It was arguably Paul's best performance since turning professional two and a half years ago with the judges scoring the bout 77-74, 78-73 and 78-73 after the final bell.
Judges Dennis O'Connell and Chris Wilson awarded every round other than the second and fifth to Paul while judge Paul Colderon had it closer as he scored the second round in favour Silva as well as the second and fifth. Paul secured the win in the final round by dropping Silva with an overhand right, but even if Silva would have won the last round it wouldn't have mattered.
Paul admitted he struggled to comprehend the fact he was fighting his childhood idol Silva, stating: "It's surreal, I don't think this will hit me until a couple of weeks from now. I feel like I'm living in the movie, [Silva] was the one who told me I could accomplish anything if I set my mind to it. You couldn't have written this in a story, it feels like a movie, Just being in the ring with him and seeing his heart, courage and bravery, that's the champion that I have looked up to. He is such an inspiration and I had to go in there and match his heart tonight."
Silva had his moments in the fight and was taunting Paul in the early rounds because of his inactivity, but as the fight went on Paul found his rhythm and outboxed the UFC legend. Paul scored the fight six rounds to two in his favour and said his corner team were being honest with him about the rounds that he didn't win.
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Paul was surprised that Silva was able to absorb his punches and thinks the Brazilian is "built different" to still be fighting at a high-level at the age of 47. "We were throwing heavy shots all night," he added. "The one that dropped him wasn't the hardest punch of the night it was obviously just the timing. I was just surprised by his toughness, I was dropping sparring partners during camp with those shots to the body and head. He's built different, he’s fought through broken bones and all of that stuff."
