It’s doubtful that anyone was as pleased as Tyron Woodley when the phone call came for a second shot at Jake Paul.
The former UFC welterweight champion-turned-boxing hopeful doesn’t feel that he is alone in his enthusiasm, however.
“Look, this is the fight that was supposed to happen anyway,” Woodley told BoxingScene.com of his unexpected rematch with Paul. “This was the fight that more people were excited about and should've been taking place all along.”
Woodley (0-1, 0KOs) is always in top physical condition but wasn’t training for any specific fight when news broke earlier this month that Paul (4-0, 3KOs) was suddenly in need of an opponent for this weekend’s Showtime Pay-Per-View headliner.
Paul—a content creator originally from the greater Cleveland area who trains in Puerto Rico—was due to face England’s Tommy Fury (7-0, 4KOs) in a cruiserweight grudge match this Saturday at AMALIE Arena in Tampa, Florida. Fury was forced to withdraw from the event due to a reported bronchial chest infection and broken rib, leaving Paul and his team to immediately search for a replacement foe.
The hunt led to Woodley, who happened to be on break while on set for an undisclosed film project when he received the call. There was not any hesitation in accepting the offer for a second lucrative showdown with Paul, against whom Woodley dropped an eight-round split decision atop an August 29 Showtime PPV from Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland.
No questions were asked, not even what happened to Fury.
“I don’t wish bad on anyone. I don’t wish anyone get hurt just so I could move forward,” noted Woodley. “I don’t know what’s going on with Tommy Fury. Not to sound mean but I really don’t care about his reason and rationale for not taking the fight. I’m just ready and willing to take (Jake Paul’s) head off.”
“It’s kind of funny that fight was set up for December 18th and more people were talking about a rematch with me and Jake anyway. I feel things happen in time and purpose for a reason.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
