Following his split-decision victory over Tyron Woodley this past weekend, Jake Paul has now claimed that he’s retired from the sport of boxing.
“Updated status:
Retired boxer,” Paul’s latest Twitter post reads.
Is the 24-year-old telling the truth though?
Almost certainly not, though it should be noted that immediately following his fight with Woodley on Saturday night he did suggest that he wanted time out and wasn’t entirely sure what his future holds.
“I’ve been boxing for 18 months now. I haven’t been to the dentist, I haven’t got my hair cut in two years.
“My teeth are crooked, my nose is crooked.
“I might need to chill out for a second and figure out who I am. I’m only 24. I’m changing and growing a lot, I’m making mistakes.”
It could be that Woodley rocking Paul in the fourth round, with only the ropes stopping him from a knockdown, may have left him re-considering his career path, but there’s plenty of evidence to suggest that he’s bluffing.
For one thing, he’s been known to steal from UFC superstar Conor McGregor’s playbook at times, and of course publicly claiming to be retired has been one of ‘The Notorious’ Irishman’s tactics when it comes to negotiating fights, so it seems likely he’s following suit.
Also, just minutes after his fight with Woodley he appeared to be on the verge of verbally accepting a rematch with Woodley, providing that the former UFC star made good on their bet to get a ‘I love Jake Paul’ tattoo.
And even after his recent ‘retired’ tweet, Paul was going back to the well as he laid out the exact conditions required for the tattoo.
“Tyron’s tattoo guidelines:
1. 3×2 inches at least
2. Can’t get it covered
3. Permanent White heavy
4. Must post on social media
5. Has to be visible with shorts and shirt on.”
And he’s also gone on to boast that he’s “the face of the fight game,” in his Twitter bio.
“When I put that shit in my bio I’m not just saying it to say it
do the math – do the debating
and when it all comes back you will agree.”
Meanwhile, Woodley has been indicating that he’s willing to get the tattoo as long as he gets a signed contract for their rematch, but fears that Paul is already trying to back out of it.
“He’s trying to back out of it,” Woodley told host Ariel Helwani. “He’s being a coward. I’m calling you out: You’re being a coward.
“I’m willing to be a man and honor my end of the deal. He made a new deal, since he’s the one that makes the bets. Now the bet blew up in your face. Let’s do it. I’m willing and I will. If I’ve got to get my own tattoo artist, I think I’m sliding to L.A., let’s get it cracking. But I need to see some paperwork, because him and his manager are starting to get real [shady]. He told me in there, he said, ‘Tyron, I give you my word.’ This is what [Paul representative] Nakisa [Bidarian] told me, ‘Tyron, I give you my word.’ And he’s been solid — he’s never told me one thing and not been solid about it. I got a lot of love for Nakisa. He said, ‘If you get the tattoo tonight, we’ll give you the rematch.’ And I said, ‘Bet. Let’s run it.’”
Woodley also pushed back at his fellow MMA fighters, including Daniel Cormier, who have urged him not to bother with getting the tattoo.
“Man, all these MMA people are trying to tell me what to do,” Woodley said. “Where the f*ck were these MMA people when they were booing me? When they didn’t give me the respect or give me the props? But everybody wants to tell me what to do and how to do it? And they all want to follow me now. Now everybody’s in a boxing gym and f*cking shadowboxing and wanting to get fights.
“I appreciate the love and support, but think about it — none of these people were on my side. Now I’m supposed to f*cking care what you say? Nah. I got love for DC, but sh*t, when it comes down to it, we’re talking about a rematch, this makes more sense for me to get a little f*cking tattoo and I have a story behind it: I f*cking got robbed by the judges, I f*cking knocked this kid through the ropes, they said I lost, I got this tattoo and I went and starched his ass.
“This is all part of the story,” Woodley added. “Because when I whoop his ass, I’m going to look at that tattoo and I’m going to laugh. And it’s probably going to be a trilogy because he’s going to want to try to get revenge back, and we’ll have a whole f*cking Rocky thing.”
Woodley certainly talked a big game heading into his first fight with Paul, but MMA fans were largely left disappointed by his actual performance as he reverted to the same low-volume, gun-shy approach that had been so characteristic of his late-UFC career, during which he lost his last four fights in a row inside the Octagon.
However, the fourth round of the fight did give a clear indication of what Woodley is capable of as he caught Paul with several clean shots and then left him rocked with a big right hand, and that, together with Paul’s retirement claim afterwards, gives him some ammo to continue campaigning that he got the better of him and deserves a rematch.
