Former NBA star retires from boxing after debut fight on Jake Paul undercard

The multiple-time Olympic gold medalist had been training at Fortis MMA for a number of years, but decided that fighting wasn’t for him after beating NFL legend Gore

Video Loading

Video Unavailable

The video will auto-play soon8Cancel

Play now

Jake Paul and Tyron Woodley weigh in and face off for final time

Retired NBA star Deron Williams has quit boxing after winning his debut fight against NFL legend Frank Gore on the undercard of Jake Paul vs Tyron Woodley.

The pair were due to fight in a four-round professional fight at a contract 215lb weight, but the commission in Florida downgraded it to an exhibition on the day of the bout.

Williams was favoured going into the bout given his background at Fortis MMA with coach Sayif Saud, where he has trained with UFc stars for a number of years.

And his fighting pedigree did show as he scored some good shots within the fight, although at one point he almost pushed Gore out of the ring with his poor technique.

The fight went to a split decision, with Williams getting the victory on two scorecards, while Gore took one and has since called for a rematch.

But former Brooklyn Nets star Williams confirmed he is retiring from the sport having won his sole fight, and won’t be pursuing the MMA bout he had planned before the coronavirus pandemic.

“I’m going to sit my old dumb a** down somewhere and let the pros do their s***,” Williams joked. “I probably looked terrible out there, I felt my last five sparring sessions were on point but once you get in there and you get touched your training goes out the window.

“I’m glad I did this but like I said before I’m one and done.”

Williams had been quietly retired from basketball for a number of years after his contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers ran out in 2017.

He was training with the MMA team to stay in shape, but wasn’t planning to fight until this year.

Meanwhile, Gore was playing until this season in the NFL, and reportedly is still fielding offers from teams who want his services as a running back.

Would you like to see Deron Williams or Frank Gore return to the ring to fight again? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!

He holds the third highest number of rushing yards, and is considered one of the greats in his position, having played for the likes of the Indianapolis Colts and the New York Jets.

“It’s all good,” said Gore after hearing of the loss. “He won the fight tonight.

“He fought hard, I fought hard, I just still have to learn some stuff.

“He did a good job tonight, we’ll see if I fight again because I had fun tonight.

“I’ll go back and talk to my team to see what’s next.”

The pair joined a stacked undercard that also featured the American debut of Australian Liam Paro who defeated Yomar Alamo, as well as women’s boxing great Amanda Serrano.

Brooklyn native Serrano destroyed Miriam Gutierrez to set up a showdown with Katie Taylor, which is likely to take place next April at Madison Square Garden in her hometown of New York City.