Jake Paul vs Tyron Woodley undercard fight changed to exhibition at last minute

Frank Gore takes on Deron Williams tonight but the fight has been changed from a professional bout to an exhibition hours before the first bell

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

Frank Gore and Deron Williams will now take part in an exhibition bout on the undercard of Jake Paul’s rematch with Tyron Williams.

The fight, between former NFL star Gore and former basketball player Williams, had been scheduled to be a professional fight.

Both men would have been making their debuts at the Amalie Arena in Florida later tonight.

But the Florida commission has downgraded the fight to an exhibition at the last minute – although it will still be scored.

The fight will be refereed by Chris Young who will also take charge of the main event. The judges have been announced as Efrain Lebron, Michael Ross and Michelle Walker-Serrano.

The bout has now been described as a four-round “special attraction” by the event organisers.

Before the late change, Williams had said: “This fight is between two guys who are high-level athletes in their respective sports and who have decided to dedicate themselves to the sport of boxing.

“It’s an interesting fight because neither of us has a fight before. There’s no tape on us. You will have to tune in on December 18 and see what happens.

“There is a stigma about basketball players being a little soft. I am here to show that it’s not the case. I have been training for a while in MMA. Making the switch to boxing has been a process that I have enjoyed. I have taken this camp very seriously. You are going to see that on Saturday.”

Gore, accrued 16,000 rushing yards in his NFL career, placing him third on the all-time list.

Should Gore vs Williams have been sanctioned as a pro fight? Let us know in the comments section

And he said this week: “I’m very excited for this opportunity. A lot of people are going to be really surprised by my skillset. I took this training camp very seriously. I’m going to show the world that I have boxing skills come Saturday night.

“This is going to be a good fight. I respect my opponent. I don’t look at Deron as a basketball player. Anyone who goes in the ring has some kind of toughness. He’s trained in MMA and wrestled before, so I know he’s tough.

“I’ve been the underdog all my life and I’m okay with it. I trained hard and I’ve been around this sport a long time. I’m ready and I trained my behind off. The fans are going to see some good stuff from me on Saturday night.”