For the first time in his professional boxing career, YouTube personality-turned-boxer Jake Paul endured defeat by a split decision to Tommy Fury.
And with Sunday's loss Paul's streak of six straight wins to debut his combat sports ambition is over.
Unlike squaring off against undersized subpar competition like Nate Robinson or those clinging for one final ounce of relevancy like Tyron Woodley, Paul elected to fight yet another fake boxer. But this time Fury, the half-brother of heavyweight machine Tyson Fury, had an on-paper impressive resume entering the matchup. With eight wins and two knockouts to Fury's name beforehand, the amateur boxing world was destined for a wasteful (but eventful) reason to toss away $49.99, right?
Well, depends on who you ask.
Paul fell in a split decision (74-75, 76-73, 76-73) after eight rounds, which triggered many Twitter fingers to get to work.
Here are a few of those reactions:
In the eighth round, Paul struck Fury with a left-handed jab, which put the 23-year-old down and off balance. Nevertheless, a victorious Fury made sure to savor the moment, which didn't come easily as he noted.
"Tonight, I made my own legacy. I am Tommy Fury!" Fury said after the win. "... I had pressure on my shoulders and I came through. This, to me, is the world title fight. I trained so hard for this. This was my destiny. This was my fate."
With a rematch clause in Paul's contract, perhaps the two will return for another pricey spectacle.
