Jake Paul scored a sixth-round TKO victory over bare-knuckle fighter Mike Perry on Saturday in Tampa, Florida, in an eight-round cruiserweight boxing match.
With the win, Paul kept his planned Nov. 15 engagement with Mike Tyson, 58, that was originally scheduled for tonight. Paul, a social media star turned boxer, knocked Perry down three times before the referee stopped the fight at 1:12 of the sixth round.
“He's tough as nails… but I hit him too hard and he took a lot of damage,” Paul said. “Mike Tyson, you're next… Anybody, anytime, anywhere.”
Paul, who was a -475 favorite according to ESPN BET, said he was sick before the fight and that his knuckle was “basically broken.”
Perry, 32, is the latest former UFC fighter to fall to Paul. Paul (10-1, 7 KOs) also defeated Tyron Woodley, Nate Diaz and Ben Askren. Paul, 27, was noticeably bigger and enjoyed a three-inch height advantage. Perry (0-2), of Orlando, Florida, fights in the 175-pound class for the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship.
Cleveland's Paul instantly dropped an opponent in the first round with a right hand. He controlled the action from distance with his superior jab and footwork.
A jab set the stage for a right hand that dropped Perry 30 seconds into the second round. Perry bounced back with a strong third round and opened a cut over Paul's left eye. But in the fourth round, it was Paul who once again dominated the exchanges. He shook Perry against the ropes with combinations on several more occasions before the final sequence.
“You did a great job, you were too fast for me and I couldn't adjust,” Perry said. “… He's not sitting there waiting to get hit like I am.”
Perry's only previous boxing match was a fourth-round knockout loss to veteran Kenneth McNeil in May 2015. Perry made his UFC debut a year later. His MMA record is 14-8. All eight of his losses came in the UFC (he had 14 total fights in the Octagon and never challenged for the title).
Perry's record in BKFC is 5-0 and his last fight was in April.
Paul, meanwhile, will move on to an eight-round heavyweight fight with Tyson on Nov. 15 in Arlington, Texas, where they will wear 14-ounce gloves.
Tyson pulled out of the main event (which will air on Netflix) after suffering an ulcer flare-up on a flight in May.
Saturday's win was Paul's second fight of 2024. In March, he defeated veteran Ryan Bourland by first-round knockout in Puerto Rico.
“In two years I'll be the cruiserweight champion of the world,” Paul said. “I'm a lot sharper, a lot cleaner. I think he took a hit tonight… I've got to start over and keep getting better.”
Serrano achieves TKO 2 and moves on to rematch with Taylor
Amanda Serrano scored a second-round TKO victory over overmatched Stevie Morgan in the junior welterweight co-feature to set up a Nov. 15 rematch with Katie Taylor.
Serrano, a former seven-division champion, landed at will against Morgan, who was fighting at the top level for the first time. Puerto Rico's Serrano (47-2-1, 31 KOs) stunned Tampa's Morgan (14-2, 13 KOs) on several occasions and stood up to his 35-year-old countryman until the referee intervened.
“I think these girls mistake my kindness for weakness,” said Serrano, ESPN's No. 3 pound-for-pound female boxer. “… If you're not on my level, that's what happens. … I know she didn't have the experience, I know this might have been too much for her.”
Serrano was fighting for the first time since October, when she outpointed Danila Ramos. Serrano suffered an allergic reaction in her eyes to hair braiding gel that forced her to cancel her main event back home in Puerto Rico in March.
Serrano now moves on to a rematch with Taylor for the undisputed junior welterweight championship. They met in April 2022 at Madison Square Garden in New York in the biggest fight in women's boxing history.
Taylor (23-1, 6 KOs) won that fight by split decision to retain the undisputed lightweight championship. The rematch was originally scheduled for May 2023 in Dublin before Serrano suffered an injury.
Taylor, a 35-year-old from Ireland, is ESPN's No. 3 pound-for-pound female boxer.
“I can't wait to be with you again,” Serrano said. “… This time it's going to be very different.”
