Jake Paul Stops Platinum Mike Perry in Six             

By Matthew Benoliel

Tampa, FL. A This exciting night of boxing kicked off  7:05 pm with Super Bantamweights Angel Barrientes (11-1, 7 KOs) and Edwin Rodriquez (12-8-2, 5 KOs). Round one was a feeling out period with Rodriquez landing some significant punches towards the end of the round. In the beginning of the second, the smaller Rodriquez landed some left hooks to the head and body, and Barrientes answered with a smooth uppercut. Barrientes also began to find his range and the action picked up.  The six-rounder was pretty even throughout, with both men landing a nice variety of punches from all angles. The judges scored the fight 57-57, 60-54, and 60-54 for a majority decision to Angel Barrientes. 

Next up was a middleweight clash between MVP’s newest signee Alexis Chaparro (1-0, 1KO) and Kevin Hill (1-1, 1 KO). Chaparro, known as “The Real Chop Chop,” also enjoys work as a fashion model.  Inside the ring, Chop Chop takes advantage of his height and technical ability. But Kevin Hill came to fight, and was landing shots to Chop Chop’s body in the first few minutes of the bout. But with one minute left in round two, Chaparro shifted gears and landed a stunning left hook to the head, followed by a right hook to the head and punctuated with a left hook to the body that dropped Kevin Hill in agony and he was out for the count. 

Shadasia Green (13-1, 11KOs) took on Natasha Spence (8-4-2, 6 KOs) for an eight round contest at middleweight. Shadasia “The Sweet Terminator” recently challenged for WBC Super Middleweight title but lost a unanimous decision to Franchon Crews-Dezurn.  Green controlled the action through the first six rounds, and had Spence in a little bit of trouble in the fourth. In round seven, Spence began to press the action, but her effort was short lived. Green seemed too strong, until Spence planted an overhand right on her chin and dropped Green to the canvas. Spence came out with renewed energy and confidence in the eighth and it seemed she needed a knockout to win. Spence was successful in pressing the action for the entire round and her destiny went into the hands of the judges, who ultimately awarded the decision to Shadasia Green with scores of 78-73,77-74,77-74.

Kicking off the main card was former World Champion Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. (53-6-1, 34 KOs) in a six-round cruiserweight bout against former MMA superstar Uriah Hall, who has a professional boxing record of 1-0. To his credit, Hall looked more like a professional boxer than some of his MMA kin that have competed under MVP’s banner, and he was simply more active than the former world champion in the first round. In round two, Uriah stalked Cesar, but failed to land anything significant. Chavez jabbed to the body and showed superior footwork. Round three Chavez continued to evade Hall, circling to his left and stabbing to the body. Uriah landed a few shots towards the end of the round, and the crowd reacted positively. Hall landed a nice uppercut in the fourth, but failed to slow down Chavez. Chavez continued to circle look for an opening. He continued throwing to the body of Hall before landing a left hand to head of Uriah towards the end of the round. Chavez came out a little more aggressive in round five, perhaps sensing that the cards may be too close for comfort. Uriah was still very much in the fight and landed two stiff rights to the head that led to some infighting against the ropes in the second half of the round. Some fireworks at the end of the round. Uriah landed a nice jab that snapped the head back of Chavez at the beginning of the sixth and final round. The action heated up for a while at the halfway point of the round. Chavez was able to evade most of Hall’s punches, but did not land anything significant of his own. At the end, the judges scorecards read 59-55, 59-55 and 58-56 for Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Although the crowd was largely booing the decision, in this reporter’s opinion, the body shots were the deciding factor. Most of Uriah’s punches were landing to the gloves or arms of Chavez throughout the fight. Ih his post-fight interview, Chavez stated that he wants to fight Jake Paul eventually. 

Next up was the highly anticipated rematch between two local Florida fighters, lightweights Corey Marksman (9-0-1, 7 KOs) and Tony Aguilar (12-0-1, 4 KOs). The two talented prospects fought to a draw back in February and that remains the only blemish on their records. Aguilar had the more active jab in the first round and landed the most significant strike, a left hook to the head that wobbled Marksman. Aguilar ate a straight left in the second round as the intensity picked up. Both men were active and the exchanges were pretty even for most of the round. Round three was back and forth with both men landing but Marksman was the busier fighter. He was out boxing Aguilar with superior footwork, angles, and variety in his attack. By the end of round five, Marksman seemed to slow down a little, and Aguilar came out quicker in the sixth. Marksman’s elusive footwork kept him out of trouble, but his punch output was decreasing. Towards the end of the round, Marksman put Aguilar against the ropes and scored with some solid shots. Corey composed himself again in the seventh and landed some nice combinations including several lead rights. Both men came out swinging in the eighth and final round. Aguilar was the aggressor, trying to push back Marksman in the clinch, but was on the losing end of most of the exchanges. In the clinch, Marksman dug into the body with better precision. Scorecards read 76-76, 77-75, 78-74 for a majority decision in favor of Corey Marksman. 

Lightweight project and MVP star Ashton H2O Sylve (11-0, 9 KOs)  took the ring next in his bout against the undefeated Canadian Lucas Bahdi (16-0,14 KOs).  Sylve took the reins early on and dominated the action, showing off his fundamental skills. In fact, Sylve coasted through the first five rounds and was winning the sixth when out of nowhere Bahdi landed a steamroller left hook that flattened Ashton Sylve.  Sylve landed face down and stayed down for an uncomfortable amount of time, earning Bahdi the KO victory.

In the co-main event, Amanda Serrano (46-2-1, 30 KOs) met Stevie Morgan (14-1-0, 13 KOs) at super lightweight for a scheduled ten two-minute rounds. From the opening bell, Serrano was in control, landing at will, with no resistance from Stevie Morgan. At thirty-eight seconds of round number two, the referee had seen enough and called a halt to the bout. Thankfully. If Serrano brings this kind of energy to the Katie Taylor rematch, we are in for a thriller. 

The main event Mike Perry walked out at 12:24 am to a sold out crowd at the Amalie Arena. The King of Violence has a fan base here. He was followed shortly by Jake Paul, decked out in some kind of Roman Gladiator cosplay outfit complete with a chariot, Ben Hur style. He was met with both cheers and boos, although some of those may have been directed towards his brother Logan. At any rate, Russel Crowe’s Academy award is safe for the moment. Jake enters this bout a -450 favorite. But he was booed again when his name was announced. 

The fight ensued with Jake sticking and moving, scoring a knockdown, which was more of a push/slip at 2:13 of the first round. When the action continued, El Gallo de Dorado continued to stalk, but Perry is no pushover, and began to win some of the exchanges. The round ended with a clean stiff jab that Perry ate wholeheartedly. And sure enough, Jake landed a clean right hand knockdown at 2:30 of round two. Perry threw Jake to the floor later in the round, and began timing Jakes jab. Perry landed a left to the chin right before the final bell. Jake continued to try to set up punches behind the jab in the third round, but Perry was slipping them with ease. That is, until the end of the round, when Jake reestablished his rhythm and began landing again. At the beginning of round four, it seemed like Perry’s window of opportunity was closing, and Jake began landing jabs and left hooks. In the final minute, Jake had Perry hurt, but did not capitalize. He did, however, continued tso dish out punishment and Perry limped back to his corner. The ringside doctor had to give the go ahead for Perry to continue into round five. Jake continued to work behind the jab and snap Perry’s head back and there was a strong smell of stoppage in the air. Perry launched a few attacks of his own, but nothing that did any damage. In his own pre-fight press conference words, Perry was “grasping for air.” He managed to survive the round. But the inevitable was near. Jake Paul came out swinging in the sixth and sent Perry to the canvas a barrage of six punches, left hooks followed by right hooks. The ref quickly stopped the action and Jake Paul now adds a TKO victory, with his record standing at 10-1 with 7 knockouts. 

Most Valuable Promotions “Fear No Man” took place on July 20, 2023 at the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida and broadcast worldwide on DAZN.