Jake Paul vs Nate Diaz LIVE: Boxing fight result and reaction from Dallas
Relive the action as YouTube star Jake Paul beats former UFC star Diaz by unanimous decision in 10-round fight
Jake Paul beat Nate Diaz by unanimous decision in their highly-anticipated boxing match in Dallas as he knocked down the mixed martial arts star en route to victory.
Diaz was fighting for the first time since leaving the UFC and proved an awkward opponent on his boxing debut in front of a Texas crowd that was hugely in his favour, although he lacked the power to really hurt his heavily-favoured opponent.
YouTuber Paul knocked him down in the fifth round of their 10-round contest but Diaz got back to his feet and made the final bell. However, the judges’ scorecards showed the relatively one-sided nature of the victory as he prevailed 97-92, 98-91, 98-91.
With his record as a professional boxer now at 7-1, attention turns to Paul’s next contest. He has offered Diaz $10m for a fight under MMA rules, with the former UFC star considering the offer, while a rematch to avenge his sole loss earlier this year against Tommy Fury – half-brother of world heavyweight boxing champion Tyson – could also be a possibility.
Relive the fight below.
Chris Avila vs Jeremy Stephens
Round Five: Stephens starts this round strongly. He’s missing a lot of punches but the intent is there to get onto the front foot. Off the back foot Avila springs off the ropes and lands a left hook one-two.
Oh that’s hard. Avila lands two big right hooks and keeps moving forward. He starts to celebrate as the bell goes.
One round left and Stephens will struggle to win from here. He probably needs a knockout.
Chris Avila vs Jeremy Stephens
Round Four: Avila is stepping it up. A couple of right hands get around Stephens’ guard before he switches down to the body.
Avila lands one, two, three straight right hands to the chin and Stephens is breathing heavier now. He can’t keep up with this tempo and Avila move onto the attack again.
Avila gtes Stephens into the corner but can’t press the advantage, Stephens ducks out but misses his heavy hook. He takes a one-two to the face to end the round.
Chris Avila vs Jeremy Stephens
Round Three: Stephens comes out with more purpose in this round. He clips the temple with a right hook but gets a warning for a punch to the back of the head.
Avila gets through the defence with another straight right before a couple of short hooks brings him more joy.
Stephens does okay in this one but Avila probably takes the round. He looks more comfortable and is picking his shots.
Chris Avila vs Jeremy Stephens
Round Two: Stephens is the one in control of the ring, he’s persistently stepping forward to get inside the pocket but Avila seems comfortable on the back foot.
Avila lands three to four punches to Stephens’ head but there’s not much power behind them. Stephens tries to work the body but Avila lands a short left hook.
Stephens is over committing and is hit with a one-two straight combo. Avila is taking this round.
Chris Avila vs Jeremy Stephens
Round One: This bout is only six rounds but if these’s fighter go at each other as expected it probably won’t go that far.
Avila launches off with a massive right hand that Jeremy Stephens matches. Both men have strong right overheads and are capable of landing that one powerful shot.
A nice one-two from Avila gets through the defence of Stephens who sloppily tries to clinch. Stephens lands a couple of nice shots and forces Avila to the ropes. Avila responds with a right hook that pings Stephens on the side of the head.
Good end to the round.
Chris Avila vs Jeremy Stephens
Here come the fighters. This is the penultimate fight on the undercard before the main event. Chris Avila makes Jeremy Stephens wait in the middle of the ring before heading out of the changing rooms.
He positively bounces to the ring and looks highly confident.
Chris Avila vs Jeremy Stephens
Up next are a couple of MMA fighters who’ve moved over to the boxing world. Chris Avila likes to let big shots go and will look to attack Jeremy Stephens early on.
This should be an explosive fight.
Jake Paul vs Nate Diaz
Jake Paul is in the building.
He posed for some photos on top of a tank and is now taking a nap on a leather sofa. He doesn’t seem too worried about this fight later on.
Either that or else he’s hiding his nerves well.
Jake Paul vs Nate Diaz
38-year-old Nate Diaz was in a relatively relaxed mood when discussing tonight’s fight and his desire to avoid any fireworks in the build-up.
“I don’t even want to go to a press conference to argue with nobody,” Diaz said. “If we’re gonna argue we’re gonna fight, so let’s just stay the f*** away from each other before the fight, pardon my language.
“I’m in an important point of my career where it’s like, I’m not trying to scare anybody, I’m not trying to fool anybody. If people want to watch, that’d be great. If they don’t, that’s fine too.”
Ashton Sylve beats William Silva by knockout in the fourth
The DAZN are raving about the prospects for Ashton Sylve.
He was the better fighter on the night by quite some way and they’ve just said that if he doesn’t win a world title he has underachieved based on his raw talent and smarts.
No pressure.
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