By: Frank Cannistra
For the last few years, Jake and Logan Paul have been revolutionizing the sport of boxing by putting spectacle ahead of skill. The next chapter in the wild story that is the Paul brothers in boxing will take place at Amalie Arena on Saturday, December 18.
It’ll be Jake stepping into the ring next month in Tampa, squaring up to Tommy Fury, younger brother of lineal heavyweight champion, Tyson Fury. Although Tommy is not quite as highly acclaimed for his boxing skill as his brother is, he has garnered much more attention for his reality television career.
Appearing alongside his girlfriend on the hit show, Love Island, Fury has a reputation seemingly crafted to oppose Paul.
Paul will be continuing his so far successful boxing career, and notably will be stepping into the ring for the first time against somebody who has actually professionally boxed before. His opposition is not a boxing rookie. Tommy Fury sits at 7-0 with four knockouts. Still not yet world class competition for Paul, but certainly a step up from the likes of Nate Robinson, Ben Askren and other youtube celebrities.
Things only get more unexpected on the undercard of this fight, as 37-year-old former NBA all-star Deron Williams will make his boxing debut against former NFL all-pro running back Frank Gore, who will also be making his boxing debut at age 38.
William’s sudden involvement in the boxing world isn’t quite as out of place as Gore’s is. The former NBA point guard owns an MMA gym in Dallas, TX, and has expressed for a while his willingness to participate in a fight like this.
As for Gore, his entrance into the boxing world has come seemingly out of nowhere. It’s the latest in a trend of former star athletes from other sports looking to make a name for themselves in the boxing world. This is a path taken, albeit mostly unsuccessfully, by the likes of Nate Robinson, Lamar Odom and Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson.
For better or for worse, the stars have brought more attention to boxing events in recent years, thankfully without any of them getting severely hurt.
Elsewhere on the card, top pound-for-pound female world champion Amanda Serrano will take on top challenger, Miriam Gutierrez. Paul has been working hard to promote his training partner Serrano, as this isn’t the first time she’ll be appearing on a Paul undercard this year.
Another interesting fight that’s been announced is a matchup of two highly-touted, undefeated super lightweight prospects in Liam Paro and Yomar Alamo. Although both prospects enter undefeated, it seems to be more of a showcase bout for the Aussie, Paro.
There’s a little bit of something for everyone on this boxing card, from influencers to former NBA and NFL players to world champion boxers to undefeated prospects. Tickets are now available at AmalieArena.com for as low as $25.
While the boxing skill-level may not be high, it should be a unique and entertaining event nonetheless.
