The referee was forced to beg for a doctor to be called after Jake Paul knocked Tyron Woodley out cold during their rematch in December.
The pair had fought to a drab split decision in their first bout back in August, and were heading that way again in their December rematch when Paul landed a beautiful right hand in the sixth to end the fight. Woodley had taken the fight on short notice after Tommy Fury pulled out with two weeks to go, and was visibly tiring.
And when Paul faked a shot to the body and instead went upstairs, he turned the former UFC champion's lights out with one shot. Immediately after the shot landed, referee Chris Young waved off the contest, and can be heard in footage telling Paul's team not to get in the ring.
He can then be heard pleading with officials at ringside, saying "I need a doctor" and ordering someone to come and check up on Woodley. The fighter eventually regained consciousness after the scary knockout, and ultimately vowed to fight again after showing his respect to Paul.
And in an intimate post-fight moment at the press conference, he put a call with his son on speaker so the media could hear him assure his family that he was okay. "Hey dude, love you, I'm good," he told his son on the phone. "Don't want you to worry about me, many people have got knocked out by me. I promise you I'm OK - what did I tell you? I'm good. Alright, I love you."
Woodley would go on to admit that Paul had proven himself as a legitimate power puncher in boxing, adding: "At some point you're going to have to start putting a little respect on Jake's name.
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"I never disrespected him as a power puncher. That's something we always knew. That's why my defence was tight. Had he dropped his hands on me, the same s*** would have happened. I can't cry over spilled milk."
For Paul's part, he was respectful of what Woodley brought to the table, and has offered him fights on his cards going forward. He believes that Woodley would beat Tommy Fury if they were to fight, and also slammed NFL star Le'Veon Bell for taunting the ex-champion after the fight.
“He just keeps on coming forward,” Paul said of Woodley. “I was hitting him with good shots. Good jabs. Good body shots. We were in the clinch, and you could feel that national champion wrestler in the clinch, pushing you around like a bull.
"And his punching power his real. He won the UFC championship with that. I’ve got a good chin. I’m eating them. But damn, that s***’s good.”
Woodley has insisted that he will fight again after the loss to Paul, and Mirror Fighting understands that he has tentative offers on the table from a number of promotions including BKFC, Bellator MMA and Showstar Boxing among others.
