After an uneventful official weigh-in between Tryon Woodley and Jake Paul earlier in the day, their Saturday afternoon public appearance devolved into another shoving battle.
After the two combatants squared up after public weigh-ins before Sunday’s boxing bout, Jake and Woodley got into a pushing struggle, which was seen on stage by the other members of both teams.
Jake Paul was being interviewed on stage as the YouTuber-turned-prizefighter. Woodley then approached Jake Paul and reached out to offer him packs of wet wipes, which Paul swatted away. He then pushed Woodley away and attempted to grab Woodley’s hat, emulating his May action with Floyd Mayweather.
Tyron Woodley stepped aside, and there was some pushing and shoving on stage before things settled down.
The brief altercation was swiftly resolved by Cleveland Police and Security.
This has come 2 days after Tyron Woodley took issue with Paul’s crewmates speaking trash to Woodley’s mother during the pre-fight press conference.
Jake weighed in at 190 lbs earlier Saturday, for the catchweight fight, at the Intercontinental Hotel. Tyron Woodley, the ex UFC welterweight champion, had a reported weight of 189.5 lbs, the highest weight in his combat career.
Woodley has fought solely at 170 pounds in the UFC and will face a disadvantage of size this weekend. The bout is scheduled to go eight rounds of three minutes each.
At Thursday’s pre-fight press conference, Tyron accused Paul’s crew member of speaking trash to Tyron’s mother. As he was being held back, Woodley attempted to reach his mother through a packed room and exchanged angry comments with Paul team members. Only when Tyron Woodley, his team and his family were removed from the room did things calm down.
Paul is well-known for his pre-fight shenanigans. He stole Mayweather’s hat at a May press conference announcing Mayweather’s bout against Logan, Paul’s brother.
Jake Paul, who claimed Wednesday he weighed about 198 pounds, seemed somewhat drained on the scale but afterwards said that he felt OK.
Paul (3-0) is about to face the most difficult test of his fledgling boxing career. Paul had knocked out Olympic wrestler, MMA Champion and ex UFC fighter Ben Askren in the 1st round of his most recent battle. In November 2020, the 24-year-old product of the Cleveland suburbs knocked off former NBA veteran Nate Robinson in the 2nd round.
Jake Paul has said that he aspires to be boxing’s biggest star, despite the fact that he is a divisive figure, having headlined high-profile events having just part of the professional experience of his contemporaries. He has a sizable following among the younger generation, who have been following him since he was 17 on Vine, then on YouTube, and now on TikTok. Additionally, he appeared on the Disney Channel’s “Bizaardvark.”
Woodley, 39, will make his professional boxing debut on Sunday. He was defeated in his previous four UFC bouts and battled out his contract in March. Tyron Woodley is one of the greatest welterweight fighters in MMA history, having made four title defences as the UFC’s 170-pound champion from 2016 to 2019.
The Ferguson, Missouri, resident was in the corner of Askren against Jake Paul . A verbal altercation between Woodley and Paul’s crew in the room where Jake Paul was having his hands wrapped on the night of the bout helped set up this meeting.
Additionally, Amanda Serrano and Yamileth Mercado weighed in at 124 pounds. Serrano fights Sunday to defend her IBO, WBO, and WBC women’s featherweight championships. She is ESPN’s third-ranked women’s boxer in the world pound-for-pound.
Tommy Fury’s undercard battle against Anthony Taylor is now going to be a four-round bout, rather than the anticipated six, owing to regulations in the UK, where Tommy is from. Fury is Tyson Fury’s half-brother and is preparing for Paul’s next bout. Taylor is a Bellator MMA veteran who serves as Paul’s sparring partner.
