Tommy Fury won a split decision over Jake Paul in Saudi Arabia to end their two-year feud.
Paul and Fury had previously attempted to fight each other twice, with both bouts called off due to Fury’s injury and visa issues. However, the third time was the charm, and the pair finally entered the ring, earning millions in the process.
A slew of celebrities made the trip to the Middle East for the grudge match, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Kevin Hart, and Mike Tyson, who all sat ringside.
The ‘Problem Child’ made his opponent sweat by delaying his main event ring walk, eventually stepping into the ring and dancing opposite Fury the moment he entered. He had declared that the long-awaited grudge match would be nothing more than “another spar,” but the pair sprung early, forcing the referee to separate them.
Early on, Paul made things scrappy by smothering Fury and getting in close. Despite struggling with the Brit’s jab, the American’s biggest shot of the first was an overhand right that his opponent rode well, with Fury likely winning the first of eight rounds.
And that jab was a real issue for Paul, who struggled to get around Fury’s impressive reach and almost certainly dropped another round in the second. However, in the third round, he became more aggressive and began to take control of the fight, landing at will, most notably with a big left with about 30 seconds to go.
As the fourth began, Jake’s brother Logan took to the arena microphone to announce that the Brit was “a b****”. However, it appeared to do little more than push Fury into an aggressive round in which he landed some big shots on his opponent. They both landed big in the fifth, but a point was deducted for illegal shots.
Paul hit the better shots and had the better round, but dropping a point cost him a potentially game-changing round. However, it was quickly reversed when Fury was docked a point to even up the controversy of the previous round – despite the fact that both were dubious.
Paul flew out early in the seventh, likely knowing he was behind due to the open scoring used in the fight, and landed a couple of heavy shots that let Fury know he was still in a fight at the furthest point of his career. Fury returned fire in a major way as the round progressed, with both wearing the seven rounds.
After a clash of heads, Fury showed off a small cut heading into the eighth, but the crowd appeared to believe he had done enough. However, Fury was knocked out early in the eighth round after walking into a jab. He persisted in his attempt to steal the victory, with the crowd on his side as they approached the finish line.
In the co-main event, Badou Jack of Sweden defeated Ilunga Makabu in the twelfth round to win the WBC cruiserweight title. He is now a three-weight world champion after previously holding titles at super-middleweight and light-heavyweight.
Jack, who is now based in Dubai and fights in Saudi Arabia, became the first Muslim fighter to win a world title on Middle Eastern soil. And he wasn’t the only one making history on the night; in the prelims, Ragad Al-Naimi became the first female Saudi Arabian professional boxer, stopping Perpetual Okaidah in the third round.
