Bernard Hopkins came away impressed with what he saw from the performance by novice boxer Jake Paul despite him losing an eight round split decision over Tommy Fury, who has been boxing his entire life and should have been able to wipe out his inexperienced opponent.
Hopkins says the Paul vs. Fury fight was close enough to be scored as a draw, and he says there definitely needs to be a rematch. Fury’s fans from the UK likely will disagree with Hopkins view of thee fight being a close one because they saw it as a lopsided affair in Tommy’s favor.
Hopkins might have factored in the bogus penalization of Jake by the referee in the fifth round after he hit Tommy on the side of the head while being held.
There was no warning given by the referee to Jake before the point deduction, and it wasn’t nearly as blatant or as powerful as the punch to the back of the head Tommy landed in rounds 4, 6, and 7. The referee was having a bad day at the office regarding detecting fouls.
“I was impressed. Was I expecting him to be Bernard Hopkins or Ryan Jones of the world or even Antonio Tarver, Mayweather or Oscar De La Hoya?” said Bernard Hopkins to Fighthype about being impressed by Jake Paul from his fight against Tommy Fury last Sunday night in Saudi Arabia.
“I respected that he went in there with the energy and the punches. This is his first debut as a legitimate fighter, correct?” said Hopkins about Jake. “The man is doing what we asked him to do.
“Did we ask him to take on a #5 contender in that weight division? That’s unrealistic. That was something you wanted, and you failed, and it would become a freak show. We don’t want that.
“As a matter of fact, I’m not taking up for him any other way. I’m just straight up as a man saying you took a step, you took the entertainment gloves off. You put the real hurt business gloves on, and he [Jake Paul] didn’t win the fight.
“I think it was close. I wouldn’t have been upset if it was a draw. We know we’re going to see another one because it was that close. I respect Jake Paul more than a guy that hollers that he wants to fight and then don’t fight.
“I respect those guys that can play and get hurt. You can play boxing and get hurt. In boxing, you can’t play. Somebody get hit, and they don’t like it. What are they going to do? They’re going to hit you back harder, and then the next thing you know, there’s a fight.