Vitor Belfort believes Tyron Woodley lacks boxing skills.
This past Sunday night (Aug. 29), Woodley shared the ring with YouTuber Jake Paul. The action was held inside a packed Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio. While Paul had the hometown advantage, but Woodley received a nice ovation for his walkout as well.
There wasn’t much activity throughout the fight. With that said, Paul and Woodley had sudden bursts to keep the fans in attendance engaged. The bout went the distance and Paul was awarded the split decision victory.
Belfort has a boxing match coming up on Sept. 11. He’ll be taking on boxing legend Oscar De La Hoya. “The Phenom” told Ariel Helwani on MMAFighting‘s The MMA Hour that he doesn’t think Woodley can box.
“Everyone has their own journey. I call it the why of fighting and the why of competing. Me and Oscar is a legendary fight. The fight yesterday is, I’m sorry, but I cannot respect a YouTuber. He’s a Disney channel type of thing, and the other guy doesn’t have hands. He doesn’t know how to box.”
Belfort went on to say that he knew Woodley would struggle against Paul.
“I told you I thought that [Woodley] was going to have trouble beating the kid, because he’s literally becoming a fighter. But his level is very low compared to a guy like myself and Oscar. We’re in the next level.
“It’s hard. It’s like comparing a wine that you can buy in Target. I’m being honest. I respect both of the guys. They did great, they made a lot of money. But at the end of the day, me and Oscar’s a legendary fight, it’s a legacy fight, it’s a generation fight. It’s the guys that are literally building a sport.”
Woodley immediately asked for a rematch with Paul after their fight. “The Chosen One” expressed his belief that he won the fight. Paul said he’d give Woodley the rematch if he makes good on a tattoo bet. One day later, however, Paul seemingly hinted at retiring from boxing.
